Disgaea:A New Overlord
by Twilight BladeMaster
Summary: DISCONTINUED Feel free to look upon this version if you want. But now available, the Director's Cut edition of Disgaea: A New Overlord.
1. Chapter 1

A New Overlord

To all those who read this, please keep in mind that it's been a while since I've last written fan fiction. I haven't exactly gotten my skills up to standard. I'll be working hard to get back to my old style of writing but for the time being, please bear with me. Also, any reviews on how I could make this better would be greatly appreciated. I'll be sure to take all your comments into account. Now, with that being said, let's get on with the first chapter.

Chapter 1-The Indicator

It was a Tuesday day morning in September. School had been in session for about two weeks now. Students were preoccupied with purchasing supplies and completing assignments and spending time with their boyfriends and girlfriends. Yes, the high school year was already in full swing for the students. Except for one student in particular. 15 year old Chiaki Hyafumi was preoccupied with something that interested her more than books and homework. Chiaki was investigating the existence of the netherworld. She had been ever since she thought she saw an odd penguin shaped shadow on her way to school one day. Her research led her to believe that what she thought she saw was a prinny. Chiaki was on her way to school when she had spotted her friend Miroku Megami.

"Hey, Miroku!" Chiaki yelled as she approached him.

"That voice….kind of like nails on a chalkboard. It could only be…." Miroku said as he turned around to face Chiaki. "Chiaki."

"Aww, you don't sound like you're happy to see me." Chiaki said as she made her eyes cloudy with tears. It was something she knew she could do in order to make Miroku feel guilty.

"No! I'm very happy to see you! You don't have to be upset!" Miroku sputtered nervously as he tried to keep Chiaki from crying.

"I thought so." Chiaki said with a condescending tone of voice. "You stopped to get something to eat again, didn't you? Why don't you just eat at home?"

"Nothing that I feel like having at home."

"Then just what do you feel like eating?" Chiaki said as she snatched the wrapper out of Miroku's hands.

"Hey! Don't just take something that doesn't even belong to you. If you must know, I'm having a double fudge donut."

"How can you eat this junk so early in the morning?" Chiaki said with a maternal voice. "Aren't you worried about your health?"

"I just eat one in the morning for the energy. I usually eat healthy. You know that. You're the one who's always bringing that organic stuff to my house."

"I'm just looking out for you. Oh! By the way, there's something I want to show you." Chiaki said as she rifled through her school bag.

"Something you want to show me?" Miroku echoed. "It's not another "Purple Penguin Feather" is it?"

"I swear to you that they exist!" Chiaki said earnestly. "But that's not what I wanted to show you anyway. I wanted you to see this." Chiaki said as she pulled a compass-like item out of her bag.

Miroku looked the item up and down before taking it from Chiaki's hand. He gave the entire thing a once over and then handed it back to her.

"You wanted show me a strange looking compass? Oooh, how special." Miroku teased.

"It's not a compass!" Chiaki snapped. "It's a mana power indicator. I bought it from that occult shop near the mall." Chiaki said with pride.

Well, that's the end of chapter one for now. I have to get to school. I'll try to get the next chapter up shortly and hopefully I'll remember to make it longer this time.


	2. Chapter 2

A New Overlord

The second chapter of this fan fiction. I'm trying to make this one that much longer than the first chapter. The first chapter was just an introduction of sorts. But that's besides the point. Now, enjoy chaper 2 of Disgaea: A New Overlord.

Chapter 2: The Encounter

"A mana power indicator?" Miroku said with a laugh. "You actually think that this thing works? Chiaki, you're the only person I know who can be tricked into buying anything."

"It does work! I know it does! Just watch."

Chiaki grabbed Miroku's arm and placed the compass on his wrist and secured the strap. The needle inside the indicator made a full circle and stopped in the place where it started from.

"You sure showed me, Chiaki. I completely believe in your indicator now." Miroku said, rolling his eyes.

"Stop making fun of me! I don't know what happened." Chiaki said, inspecting the indicator closely. "It should have given you an accurate reading of your mana power."

"Chiaki, just face facts. The owner of the occult shop sold you a piece of junk. If you want, I'll go with you after school to get your money back."

Miroku's eyes widened in shock. He quickly pulled up his sleeve and looked at his watch. His eyes opened even wider (which seemed impossible) as he noticed the time.

"My first class started twenty minutes ago! I can't believe I took so long!" Miroku started running down the street when he yelled back to Chiaki. "Meet me after school, I'll go with you to the store!" And with that, Miroku was gone.

Chiaki watched as Miroku slowly disappeared from view. She seemed more concerned with why the indicator was acting strange. She didn't actually give it a test run but she would have figured that it would have done something other than make a full circle. Chiaki headed on her way to school, somewhat oblivious as to what was going on around her. Her eyes were fixated on the indicator, looking up only to check the crosswalk lights. Her trip to school seemed much quicker to her because when she finally drew her eyes away from the indicator, she was already standing in front of the main gates to her school. She placed the indicator in her school bag and headed into the building. Upon her entrance, she saw Miroku getting chewed out by the school patrol monitor. She knew the patrol monitor had a crush on her so she decided to give Miroku a break.

"So you have no late pass, no excuse for being late, and you don't have your program card on you? You're looking at serious trouble Mr. Megami." Snapped the hall monitor.

"I didn't acknowledge the time. I didn't think I would be this late. Can't you just gimme a break this once, Kaname?"

"That's Monitor Kaname to you! You shouldn't be asking me for favors. My duty comes above all else."

"Kaname, what's going on?" Chiaki asked innocently. Now Chiaki didn't really mind the fact that she was leading someone on in order to help out a friend. She was bothered by the fact that it was a female that she had to hit on.

"Oh, Ms. Hyafumi! You're looking good today. Not as opposed to any other day, of course." Kaname said, her brain slowly turning to pudding at the sheer sight of Chiaki. "I was just reprimanding a delinquent. Nothing big."

"I come in to school late and now I'm a delinquent? How did that happen?" Miroku inquired.

"Quiet Mr. Megami! No one gave you permission to speak. Can't you see that I'm busy talking to Ms. Hyafumi?"

"Ease up on him Kaname. He didn't intend to come into school late. I'm certain that he's sorry for his mistake and would just like to get on his way to class. Can't you let him go just this one time….for me?" Chiaki stared into Kaname's eyes, hoping for the reaction that she was waiting to receive.

"I-I guess I could do it this one time for you Ms. Hyafumi." Kaname became clay in Chiaki's hands. She couldn't think straight when Chiaki was staring at her like that.

"So can I go now?" Miroku asked.

Denise waved Miroku off without even looking at him. Miroku headed down the hall as he mouthed the words "I owe you one" to Chiaki who was still dealing with Kaname. Kaname was trying to coerce Chiaki into a date as Miroku sped off down the hall.

"Ms. Hyafumi, you're really cute when you're asking for a favor. I'd really like to spend some time with you."

"Kaname, I don't think I can. I might be busy." Chiaki proclaimed uncomfortably.

"But Ms. Hyafumi, I haven't even given you a day yet. So how can you know if you're busy or not."

"I'm gonna be busy all week-month! I meant that I'm gonna be busy all month. I have a lot of work to do. You know me, busy, busy, busy." Chiaki said earnestly

"Oh come on Ms. Hyafumi. Just one time. Please? I'll be real nice." Kaname pleaded as she ran a hand down Chiaki's arm.

"Umm, I don't think that I'm really comfortable with you touching me. Besides, Kaname, I just don't have the time. Maybe next month or something." Chiaki pulled away from Kaname's hand and rushed down the hall and up the secondary stair case.

Kaname stood there watching Chiaki run down the hall before disappearing in the stairwell. She smiled and thought quietly to herself.

"I'm getting closer. It's just a matter of time before she says yes. I'm willing to wait." Kaname smiled and walked down the hall, whistling happily to herself.

Chiaki was out of breath by the time she reached the stairwell. The hallway was long and she was running at top speed. She came to a stop at the top of the stairs in order to catch her breath. She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. Her classes didn't start for a while but she always came in early to have some time to relax before class started. The school was quieter than normal and Chiaki took notice to it. She looked around to see if there were any other students walking about. She didn't think much of it and continued to rest until she saw something strange out of the corner of her eye. It was the same shadow that she saw that day when she was walking to school. She was determined to find out if her suspicions were true. She stood up and raced down the stairwell and headed towards the basement. The shadow managed to stay ahead of her. Chiaki chased with everything she had in her when she finally caught up with the owner of the strange shadow, trapped in the dead end of the basement.

"Oh no. I really messed up this time dood!"

And that's the end of chapter 2. I hope this one is a little better than the first chapter. I just sometimes can't think of anything to write but I'm doing my best. For those of you who read this, please review and give me some ideas on how to improve or what you would like to see in the coming chapters. Now I think I'm gonna take a break. I'm kinda sleepy.


	3. Chapter 3

A New Overlord

This is the third chapter in my series. I really want to make this one seem long so I have to work at my length. Also, after this chapter, it may take me longer to get them up because I need a refresher period to get my ideas down. Not to mention being busy with school and all. Also, I did notice the Denise/Kaname discrepancy in chapter 2. The reason for that being that my original name for Kaname was Denise but I realized that it wouldn't fit in with her character later on. So now, without further ramblings from me, here's the third chapter in the New Overlord series.

Chapter 3: The Discovery

"Oh my god! You're a-a-a….." The name escaped Chiaki from the shock of having actually encountered a prinny. She wasn't expecting to see one, let alone at her school.

"I'm nothing! You never saw me! I'm a figment of your imagination, dood!" The prinny frantically tried to cover.

"No you're not! You're a prinny! Where's Miroku when you need him?" Chiaki rifled through her bag quickly and produced a camera.

"No! You're not supposed to know that I'm here, dood!" The prinny yelled frantically.

Chiaki snapped pictures in rapid succession, partially blinding the prinny due to the flash from her camera. She now had the proof she needed.

"Now I can prove to Miroku that the prinnies exist. He's not going to be able to make fun of me anymore!" Chiaki cheered happily while continuing to frantically snap pictures of the prinny.

"Dood! Stop taking pictures! I'm going blind!" The prinny pleaded.

Chiaki immediately stopped snapping pictures. Not out of remorse but the fact that her digital camera ran out of space. She looked in her bag to locate the spare memory stick that she always kept on her but couldn't find it. When she looked up from her bag, the prinny was gone. She knew it couldn't have gone far seeing as how it could barely see. Chiaki ran up the stairs, assuming it had gone by her when she was looking through her bag but found nothing. There were no traces of the prinny or how it could have escaped. Chiaki wasn't upset though. She had finally gotten indisputable proof that prinnies did indeed exist. Chiaki immediately headed up to look for Miroku who had probably been in the hall switching classes by now. The bell rang and impeded Chiaki's search for Miroku. Her classes were about to begin.

"Of all times for my classes to start, it has to be right now? Why does this always happen to me? I'll have to catch up with Miroku after school then. I was hoping to show him right now but there's no time."

Chiaki headed towards her first class of the day, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to concentrate after the events of the morning. She just kept thinking about the prinny and Miroku's reaction when he finally sees that she wasn't just making things up. No, this time, she would show Miroku that she wasn't coming up with these things off the top of her head. Meanwhile, a situation was about to erupt in the Overlord's Castle.

"Hey, you're back. Did you find it?" Etna asked as the prinny came wobbling into the throne room.

"No, I didn't have a chance, dood." The prinny said, crashing into the wall.

"What's wrong with you? Didn't you even see that you were headed towards a wall? Or are you just naturally stupid?"

"I can't help it, dood. I think that girl blinded me with her camera…." The prinny realized the error it had made in telling Etna what really happened.

"You let someone take a picture of you! Are you serious! How could you be so stupid!" Etna screamed. She kicked the prinny with everything she had in her, sending it soaring from the throne room into the main hall.

"I'm sorry, dood!" The prinny yelled as it flew out through the throne room doorway.

"I have to find the prince! Now!"

Etna ran into Laharl's room. She found Laharl playing a game on his newly acquired PS2. She couldn't believe that the longest reigning overlord so far could be so oblivious as to what was going on around him. She walked around to the side of the TV and pulled the extension cord for the PS2 out of the outlet.

"What are you doing! I didn't get a chance to save!" Laharl yelled as he threw the controller to the floor. "You'd better have something really important to tell me."

"Prince, we have trouble. One of the prinnies went scouting for that compass you lost and he let himself get photographed. People know that prinnies exist now."

A/N: In Disgaea, there was an ending in which Laharl and his crew traveled to Earth and took over, so of course people knew that prinnies existed. This fan fiction is written as if that ending never took place.

"What's the big deal? Humans don't know how to get here. The only ones who actually made it were Gordon and his friends. And you know how that turned out for them." Laharl said in an uncaring voice.

"But what if they do manage to find a way? Then we have problems. We'd have a real tourist emergency on our hands."

"Relax. The only way to get here is through a dimensional gate and I doubt the humans have their own dimensional gatekeeper. We'll be fine."

"Prince, is there something wrong? You're usually not so laid back. Why are you taking this so calmly?" Etna asked with a genuinely concerned look.

"The prinnies are always making stupid mistakes. I'll just kill the idiot and be done with it. Nothing to get worked up over."

"I don't think killing your own vassals is the smartest thing in the world…." Etna retorted, clearly displeased with Laharl's reaction.

"Seriously, Etna, what's the big deal? So one of the prinnies got its picture taken……" Laharl finally realized the severity of the situation. His eyes flared with rage, scaring even Etna who was already used to his temper tantrums.

"Umm, prince? Are you alright?"

"Where is that stupid prinny! I'll give him such a beating that it'll knock the color off his feathers! I'll beat him to an inch of his life and pass it by a mile!" Laharl screamed. His voice echoed of the castle walls, shaking it to its very foundation.

"Prince, you really should try to calm down. You don't wanna have to rebuild the castle do you?" Etna explained calmly. She was trying to maintain her composure since she had never seen Laharl this angry.

Flonne was in the main hall, coming to visit her good friends Laharl and Etna when she had heard the commotion. She briefly thought about turning back and leaving as if she were never there but decided to go ahead anyway. She walked through the throne room doors and walked to the entrance way of Laharl's bedroom. She placed a hand against the door and cautiously opened it.

"H-hello? Laharl? Etna? Are you in here?" Flonne inquired timidly

Etna turned around to face the door and saw Flonne peaking in from the partially opened door. She mouthed the words "Now's not a good time" to Flonne discreetly. Although not well enough since Laharl took notice to this.

"Who's behind the door? Is it that prinny? I'm gonna kill him!" Laharl shot towards the door with a surprising, and considerably impressive amount of speed.

Etna, in one of those rare moments when she showed kindness, tried to stop Laharl from hurting Flonne by extending her leg and tripping Laharl. He went into and uncontrolled roll and shot through the door with a loud crash. Etna opened the door and looked across the throne room hall. She saw Laharl and Flonne, post collision, at the end of the long hallway. She couldn't tell if either one was alright from that distance so she casually started walking towards the two of them, assuming they'd both be fine. What she didn't realize was that Laharl's hands had ended up on Flonne's chest, which had grown slightly from their last encounter. When Flonne came to, she looked down and saw this. Her reaction wasn't very pleasant as you can obviously assume.

"HELP! Laharl's trying to rape me!" Flonne screamed.

Laharl came around just in time to hear what she was screaming and realize what had happened. He was so caught up in trying to explain what had happened to her that he hadn't remembered to remove his hands, which was basically the cause of the problems. Flonne pounded Laharl furiously with her hands, not hearing anything Laharl was trying to say. Etna picked up the pace and sped over to Flonne. She kicked Laharl off of Flonne and pulled Flonne back onto her feet.

"Shame on you prince! I know you're a demon and all but, raping your friend. That's just the lowest." Etna scolded, holding Flonne in her arms while she cried on Etna's shoulder.

"I-I never thought h-he'd do something like this!" Flonne said with a long sob. She tried hard to choke back her own tears. "B-but, I guess, s-s-since I'm an angel, I can forgive him" Flonne explained, tears still flowing freely.

"But, I didn't….." Laharl sentence was cut short by Etna, who was already displeased Laharl enough as is.

"Don't you think you've done enough? Come on Flonne, you can lie down in my room." Etna comforted, beckoning to her bedroom.

"Thank you, Etna." Flonne followed Etna into the room. Soon they were obscured from view behind Etna's door.

Laharl clambered to his feet and dusted him self off. It would just be his luck that Jennifer had happened to be walking by and heard the whole thing. She headed towards Laharl with that displeased big sister look that she used to place guilt on Laharl. Laharl saw her out of the corner of his eye and braced himself for yet another scolding.

"So I guess you've come to yell at me too, huh?" Laharl questioned, his back still turned to Jennifer.

"I won't yell at you, but I am displeased with what you've done. I understand. You're young, and your body is experiencing desires that you just don't understand but you have to know how to go about dealing with these desires." Jennifer spoke in a calm, quiet tone. "Laharl, I think it's time we had…._the talk_."

"What are you talking about? I'm 1313 years old. I'm way older than you are. And besides, it was an accident. Nobody's giving me a chance to explain. I'm the freakin' overlord for crying out loud!" Laharl snapped. Finally, realizing that the cycle wouldn't end if he kept fighting it, he gave in. "Alright, I'll listen. What do you wanna tell me?"

"Well, when a boy reaches a certain age….." Jennifer went on with _the talk_.

"WHAT?" Laharl's voice echoed through the entire castle.

And that's the end of chapter 3. I'm gonna go and play Disgaea again to get some fresh ideas. If you have an questions or comments, put them in a review and I'll address them as soon as possible.


	4. Chapter 4

A New Overlord

The fourth chapter in my New Overlord series. I just thought that I should let the readers know that I haven't played the game in a while so if I get the terminology wrong, please forgive me. Now then, the fourth installment of my Disgaea fan fiction. Enjoy. And as always, if you have any questions or comments, leave them in a review and I'll address them as quickly as possible.

Chapter 4: The Mana Index

The bell rang loudly, signaling the end of Chiaki's school day. She shot out of her final classroom and into the fourth floor stairwell. She headed down the stairs quickly and out the door where Miroku stood, waiting for her as he had promised. She headed towards him eagerly, holding her camera in her hand.

"So, you ready to go get your money back?"

"Yeah, but first, I have something really important to show you."

"Important?" Miroku echoed. It was a bad habit he had picked up earlier on in life. He can't exactly remember when but he's been doing it for as long as he's known Chiaki.

"Yeah. I finally have proof that the prinnies exist!" Chiaki beamed brightly.

"Prinnies? What are those? Oh! You're talking about the purple penguins again. What did you find this time? A talon or something?" Miroku teased.

"Shows how much you know. Prinnies don't have talons. They have peg legs. But no, that's not what I wanted to show you. I wanted to show you these." Chiaki held the screen up to Miroku's face and scrolled through the pictures. Miroku stared on wide eyed in disbelief. He couldn't believe that Chiaki actually got a picture of a prinny.

"Now do you believe prinnies exist?" Chiaki asked forcefully.

Miroku, being stuck in his ways when it came to this sort of stuff, looked at Chiaki and then just gave a slight grunt and a shoulder shrug.

"It doesn't really prove anything. You could have just photographed a doll or something. I could swear I saw one at the toy store." Miroku said with an air of coolness.

"Even after I got all these pictures and stuff, you still don't believe me?" Chiaki yelled. She didn't like that fact that Miroku thought she was just an obsessed fan girl. She began to cry. Not quietly but in loud wailing sobs. Miroku's face turned a shade of bright red as people began to stare at him with disapproving looks.

"What are you doing you idiot? Stop crying! You're drawing attention to yourself…and me!" Miroku sputtered.

"And now I'm an idiot too? I hate you!" Chiaki screamed. Everyone in the vicinity was now focused heavily on Miroku.

"No! I didn't mean it like that! She's not serious! Honest, I didn't call her an idiot." Miroku spoke to no one in particular.

Murmurs came from the crowd as the spoke to one another discreetly.

"Look at that, he made her cry." One person whispered

"He must have a problem with women." Another lady murmured.

"He should be in military school." An old man said in a gruff voice.

Miroku looked around quickly. He knew that everyone was staring. And with Chiaki continuing to cry, he couldn't honestly say that it didn't look bad. He figured there was only one way to quiet her now. He'd seen it in a lot of animes and TV shows. He couldn't believe it was his only option, but it didn't seem like there was any way to stop her crying with his words. He would have to send her into a state of shock and then quickly drag her out of there. Miroku swallowed his pride and kissed Chiaki. He pulled away quickly and examined her for a minute, hoping that his idea had worked. Chiaki stared on at him for a moment, obviously in shock. Miroku took this as a sign that his idea had worked. Somehow though, it seemed to simple to him, too easy. Sure enough, he was right.

"What are you doing?" Chiaki wailed. She slammed her bag against Miroku as hard as she could, knocking him off his feet.

"But…I…wait a minute, Chiaki! Let me explain!" Miroku yelled. His pleas fell on deaf ears as Chiaki ran at full pace down the block and out of view. Miroku had never done this much damage, and now he wasn't sure if he could fix it. But that was the least of his problems at the moment. Miroku turned his head to the sight of hundreds of glaring eyes.

"You're scum!" One person shouted.

"The death penalty is too good for you." A high school girl snapped.

"You should be put away for life." An old man bellowed.

Miroku figured that things couldn't get any worse. Everyone already witnessed what had happened and couldn't hate him anymore. He climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. Upon looking up, he had found that the worse was yet to come. The one person he had hoped was never around was now right in front of him. Kaname stood there with nothing but pure hatred in her eyes. Hatred and malice. She was brandishing a kendo stick that she borrowed from the kendo club.

"Now wait a minute, Kaname. It's not what you think. If you just give me a chance to explain, I'm sure…." Miroku didn't get a chance to finish. Kaname took a step towards him and swatted the kendo stick against her hand.

"You hurt Ms. Hyafumi. You defiled her. You forced yourself on her. Now you have to deal with me. You know the old saying: "You summon the thunder, now get ready for the lightning?" Well you're in for one hell of a storm!" Kaname said with murderous intent.

Miroku swallowed hard. He wasn't necessarily afraid of Kaname. He had an 8th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a 10th degree black belt in Jujitsu. The only thing was that Miroku took a vow to never hit a female. He was at a disadvantage here. Not only would he have to deal with the murderous officer Kaname, but he knew the crowd wasn't going to let him leave that easily. His only chance would be to somehow force his way past Kaname and run down the same path that Chiaki took.

"Never in all my life have I been so infuriated! You should be thrown in a dark pit, never to see the light of day again!" Kaname screeched as she swung the kendo stick with immense force.

"Ah! Strike stopper 13!" Miroku clasped his hands together just as the kendo stick came near his face. He stopped it with complete efficiency. The crowd, although still quite angry with Miroku's actions, couldn't help but be impressed with Miroku's level of skill.

Miroku turned his arms to the side, jerking Kaname out of the way. He leapfrogged over her and headed down the block, desperately trying to catch up with Chiaki. The only reason he even tried was because he knew he had a slight chance. Chiaki was a pretty fast runner, but she was the slowest on the girl's track team. Miroku was able to at least keep up with the team captain in a race so he saw a faint glimmer of hope at catching Chiaki. Meanwhile, back at the Overlord's Castle, Jennifer had just about finished with _the talk_.

"And that's where babies come from. You understand now, Harlie?" Jennifer asked gingerly.

"Yes! I understand! Just don't tell me anymore! It's too much!" Laharl pleaded, curled up in the fetal position.

"I know it's a lot to process at one time, but you should know these things. As a growing boy, you have to know how to deal with these situations."

"Alright! Just don't go on with this anymore!"

"Oh, Harlie. Come on now, it wasn't that bad. Besides, there's still more to know. I mean, you should know how to please a woman. If you want, I can tell you about that too."

"No! I'll read a book or something! Just stop talking!" Laharl yelled.

"I know more than a book. Being a woman myself, I can tell you way more than…." Jennifer was cut short by Laharl, who had finally snapped.

"I don't wanna know any of this! Especially not coming from you! It was a giant misunderstanding! Now get away from me!"

"I understand. You just need time to let all of this sink in. I'll go for now. But if you want to know anything else, just come find me. Ok, Harlie?" Jennifer inquired.

"Yes. Thank you. Now would you go away?" Laharl retorted. His patience and mental capacity had already worn thin.

Jennifer smiled and walked away. She stopped and looked back at Laharl. She smiled as she thought about Laharl, and how he had acted the entire time she had known him. She thought about how he was prone to these outbursts but she thought that deep down, he harbored the same kind of love for her that she held for him. Laharl was her little brother, nothing could change that. Laharl, after a few minutes, came out of the fetal position and returned to his feet. Flonne and Etna had just entered the throne room hall at that point.

"Well? Don't you have anything you wanna say to Flonne, Prince?" Etna focused her eyes intently on Laharl.

"Not really. Why?" Laharl asked. He didn't think that this entire situation was his fault so he felt he had nothing to apologize for.

"Well how about an apology for starters? You did violate the poor girl." Etna snapped. She didn't expect Laharl to extend an apology that easily but she was rather displeased at the manner he was taking to the situation.

"I didn't do it on purpose. I was trying to explain that but you wouldn't give me a chance. And besides, if anyone owes anyone an apology, it's you guys who owe me one. Do you have any idea what I had to sit through because of you?" Laharl said with disgust. It was no secret that Laharl believed apologizing to a vassal was beneath an overlord. Even though Flonne was no longer his vassal, he still treated her as such.

"We owe you an apology? How do you figure that?" Etna fired back.

"I don't need to explain myself to you. You shouldn't even be questioning my judgment. I'm an overlord and you're my vassal. You should faithfully abide by my judgment and serve me loyally." Laharl didn't want to experience the talk with Jennifer again, even if he would be the one saying it. He had an air of confidence about him as he spoke. His ability as a competent overlord was exposed a bit.

"But…but…." Tears gathered in the corners of Flonne's eyes. The tears choked the sentence in her throat. She was on the verge of crying. Laharl took notice to this. He had experience something that he rarely did when he was looking at her. Regret. Indeed, the mighty overlord Laharl had felt regret. Laharl swallowed his pride (which was seemingly impossible) and delivered an apology.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I did what I did. And I also apologize for what I said." Laharl delivered the line deadpan. He didn't even believe his own apology. But for Flonne, it was enough. She smiled meekly and opened her arms.

"Thank you, Laharl. Come here." Flonne's arms remained open.

"Why? And why do you have your arms open?" Laharl was confused as to how Flonne was acting. He couldn't understand her.

"To give you a hug." Flonne said cheerily.

"A hug? What are you talking about?" Laharl questioned. He had probably been given a hug in times past but hasn't really remembered it because affection wasn't something he was used to.

"You don't know what a hug is?" Flonne put her arms back at her said and thought about how she would explain this to Laharl.

"Well, usually, when people have a fight and make up, they embrace each other as a show of good will. It's a sign of affection."

Laharl stared at Flonne for a minute. He looked her up and down before responding.

"Affection, huh? Well thanks, but no thanks. I think I'll pass." Laharl replied.

"You mean…you don't want to hug me? Now I feel sad…." Flonne wasn't really upset this time. She expected resistance from Laharl but she was determined to make him show affection. She figured that the only way it would be possible is to guilt him into it. It was something she had picked up in her time being in the demon world. She covered her face and made quiet sobbing noises.

"Are you crying? Why? Cut it out!" Laharl snapped. Flonne responded by sobbing even louder.

"It's not gonna work, Flonne. You're not going to guilt me into hugging you. So you can stop now." Laharl said coldly.

Flonne wasn't the type to give up. She decided to take it up another level. She dropped to her knees and placed her face on the floor and made herself cry so that the tears began to spread across the floor. She figured that if this didn't get him to hug her, nothing would. Even she thought she looked pitiful right now. She felt like giving herself a hug.

"Why are you making this such a big deal? Demons don't do affection. So stop crying already." Laharl watched for a minute as Flonne continued to cry.

"Flonne? I said you can stop. Really, stop. It's annoying. Come on!" Laharl shouted. He watched as Flonne still continued to make herself cry. She was about to give up since she could only fake so many tears.

"Alright, already! Give it a rest! I'll give you a hug!" Laharl screamed. If there was one sound that annoyed him the most, it was the sound of Flonne crying.

Flonne shot up from the floor and the tears immediately stopped. She outstretched her arms and grinned widely. Laharl walked over and gave her a weak, half-hearted embrace, hoping that would be enough. She squeezed him tightly as she felt warmth in her chest. She never experienced something like this before. She felt happy just to have Laharl holding her. She was always happy when Laharl showed compassion, but not like this.

"Aww, isn't the wittle pwince so cute?" Etna said with condescending baby talk.

Laharl snapped out of the embrace quickly and crossed his arms.

"I am not cute! I just did that so she could stop crying! And who are you to speak to me like that anyway?" Laharl shouted. His pride had, once again, gotten in the way of his softer side. Flonne stood there, somewhat awe-struck, trying to figure out why she just felt the way she did.

"Geez, calm down, Prince. I was only playing with you." Etna laughed.

"How about we focus on the matter at hand here? Like that photo of the prinny?" Laharl snapped defensively.

"Well, what do you expect to do about it? You're the overlord, so you should be making these decisions." Etna retorted.

"You think I don't know that? I just figured I'd get your opinions first. Any overlord with half a brain would do the same."

"Yep, you've got a half a brain all right, Prince." Etna replied cattily.

"Thank y-HEY! That was a cheap shot!" Laharl shouted.

Flonne chuckled quietly at Etna's joke. She was amused more so by Laharl's reaction, rather than the joke itself.

"Just having a little more fun with you is all, Prince. You really need to lighten up." Etna smiled widely. She always treated Laharl like this, knowing that he wouldn't waste his most loyal vassal. At least in her mind anyway.

"You're not supposed to be having fun! You're supposed to be helping me!"

"So what exactly are you thinking about doing anyway?" Flonne inquired. She used her good-idea-per-month already. From here on out, her ideas were essentially useless.

"I don't know. I'm coming up blank. Any ideas, Etna?" Laharl rubbed his temples as he spoke.

"Well, we can't use a prinny again. Probably end up making the same stupid mistake anyway…..I got it!" Etna exclaimed gleefully.

"Well? Spill it." Laharl demanded impatiently.

"We can use a scout! They're supposed to be good at finding stuff anyway. I wonder why we didn't do that in the first place…." Etna explained.

"Good idea. But just for the record, it was you're idea to use the prinnies in the first place. "They need the exercise" you said. Now anyway, go tell one of the scouts what's going on. If you need me, I'll be trying to regain my high score that _someone_ hastily destroyed." Laharl was clearly focused on Etna. And with that, he walked off to his room.

Meanwhile, in the human world, Miroku had begun to see Chiaki's form appear in the distance. He was already out of breath but he forced himself to hold it together a little longer so that he would catch up to her.

"Chiaki! Wait a minute! Hold on, dammit!" Miroku yelled out as he closed in on her.

Chiaki slowed to a stop, her back still turned to Miroku. She didn't say or do anything. She just stopped and waited. Miroku ran up alongside her and stopped for a minute to catch his breath.

"I finally caught up to you. You run pretty fast." Miroku joked, trying to break the ice.

"What do you want? I have nothing else to say to you." Chiaki spoke coldly.

"Look, I'm sorry that I didn't believe you about the penguin…."

"Prinny. It's called a prinny." Chiaki interrupted.

"Alright. I'm sorry I didn't believe you about the prinny. I just find it hard to believe in stuff like that. But I am sorry." Miroku apologized sincerely.

"And? What else are you sorry for?" Chiaki waited impatiently.

Miroku sighed a deep sigh. He couldn't believe that he expected something he saw on TV to work. He hung his head and spoke indirectly to Chiaki.

"I'm really sorry that I….kissed you like that. I just needed you to stop crying for two seconds." Miroku explained.

"I don't know. I don't think I can forgive you for that right away." Chiaki began to lower her guard.

"I'm not asking you to. I just want you to know that I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." Miroku said as he looked up at Chiaki.

"I can tell. But I guess, with time I can forgive you. But there are a few things that need to be addressed." Chiaki said with authority.

"Addressed? Like what?" Miroku asked, seeming somewhat confused.

"First off, you can't make fun of me anymore. Secondly, you have to at least hear me out when I talk to you. Don't just assume that it's a bunch of junk that I came up with off the top of my head. And lastly, you have to promise that you'll at least take my feelings into consideration next time."

Miroku ran her requests back and forth through his head for a minute. He thought for a minute and then responded to Chiaki.

"Alright. I accept your terms." Miroku said seriously.

"Okay. Then you're forgiven."

Chiaki extended her hand as a sign of goodwill. Miroku looked at her hand and then extended his own and shook her hand firmly.

"So, what are you gonna do now." Miroku asked.

"Well, you're coming with me aren't you?" Chiaki replied.

"Coming with you where? Were we supposed to be going somewhere?"

"You said you'd take me back to the occult shop to get my money back."

"Oh right! I completely forgot about that." Miroku exclaimed.

"But we have to hurry. The store closes in an hour and you know how the buses are." Chiaki smiled as she spoke.

Miroku returned her smile and stood erect. He and Chiaki headed off in a brisk pace towards the bus stop. The bus arrived shortly (which was a surprise to the both of them since that bus in particular took forever to show up) and they were on their way to the occult shop near the mall where Chiaki had purchased the mana power indicator. Back at the Overlord's Castle, Etna had just finished briefing one of the scouts on his mission.

"Now, do you have any questions or anything you want me to repeat?" Etna asked with concern.

"No, not really." The scout responded.

"Good, because I wasn't gonna repeat myself anyway. Now get moving." Etna pointed toward the dimensional gate which already contained the approximate coordinates of the mana indicator.

The scout stepped forward, turned around and saluted Etna, and headed into the dimensional gate. Etna walked out of the room and into the conjoining hallway which joined the main walkways of the Overlord's Castle with each other. She took a left and headed around the corner and back into the throne room hall where Laharl was sitting on his throne, awaiting Etna's progress. Etna approached the throne and stared at Laharl for a minute.

"You know, usually, a loyal vassal bows to their overlord when coming in his presence." Laharl explained flatly.

"Oh well, you're out of luck. I don't feel like bowing. I didn't do it when your father was overlord and I'm not going to do it for you." Etna explained.

"And that's probably why you are the way you are. My old man was too lenient. But he's not the overlord anymore, so the next time I say bow, you will bow." Laharl responded pompously.

"Yeah, right away, Prince. Now, I just sent the scout to the last known coordinates of the mana index. Anything else you need done while I'm out here? Because once I go back to my room to lie down, I'm not coming back out for a while." Etna inquired impatiently.

"No. But I do think you should work on that attitude of yours. I've killed demons for less, you know. But, you may go now. There's nothing else I need." Laharl waved his hand and Etna walked off to her room. Laharl picked himself up from his throne and surveyed the room for a minute. Although he was the overlord and was allowed to do whatever he pleased, he sometimes found himself very bored. He walked out towards his room when Flonne called out for him.

"Laharl! Wait, Laharl!" Flonne called out. She made her way towards him.

"Oh god. What could she want from me now?" Laharl said under his breath. He turned around and waited for her.

"Hi, Laharl! What are you going to do now?" Flonne asked cheerily.

"I don't know. I'm pretty bored and I can't think of anything to do. Why do you wanna know anyway?" Laharl asked suspiciously. Flonne had never asked him what he was doing before, so why start now.

"Just asking. I came down here for a visit and Etna just went to take a nap so I thought we could spend some time together." Flonne explained happily.

"And why would you want to spend time with me anyway? You never wanted to before." Laharl said flatly.

"Yes I did! I just didn't want to bother you when you were doing important overlord stuff. But you're not busy now." Flonne responded.

"Who says I'm not busy? I didn't." Laharl fired back.

"But you did. You said you can't think of anything to do. So that means that you're not busy." Flonne trapped Laharl right where she wanted him. Now he had no plausible excuse as to why he couldn't spend time with her.

"But I….I mean….I have to…." Laharl sputtered frantically. He realized he had been caught in his own lie.

"Then it's settled. You're going to spend the day with me since Etna's not around." Flonne smiled widely. She was very happy to be spending the day with Laharl.

"But I never said yes!" Laharl yelled.

"But you never said no either." Flonne replied.

"Now you're just twisting the situation!" Laharl whined.

"Why are you fighting me so much? Don't you want to spend time with me? I came all this way just to see you." Flonne said sadly as her voice began to crack. It was obvious that she was about to cry again. The only difference is that this time it was genuine.

"All what way? It only takes a few minutes to get here by dimensional gate!"

"But…but…I just wanted to spend time with you." Flonne sobbed loudly.

"Why are you crying again? What's wrong now?" Laharl demanded.

"You don't wanna spend time with me!" Flonne cried out.

Some of Laharl's vassals were walking about and witnessed the scene. They began to mutter under their breath and amongst each other.

"Oooh, he made her cry." A nekotama pointed out.

"Again? That's three times already, isn't it?" Dratti questioned rhetorically.

"He's not too good with the ladies, huh?" Zommie asked to no one in particular.

Laharl looked around and saw all his vassals questioning his actions. He didn't take too kindly to this either.

"What are you all doing standing around? Don't you have something to be doing? Every one of you, get back to work right now or I'll beat you all to death!" Laharl shouted.

The vassals scattered quickly. Soon, the entire throne room hall was empty except for the flustered Laharl and despaired Flonne. Laharl watched as Flonne fell to her knees and buried her hands in her face. He listened to her sobs and gasps for air every now and again. He felt somewhat sad, but he shrugged it off as annoyance. He didn't believe that a demon could experience sadness. Or shouldn't for that matter. He grabbed Flonne by the wrist and led her into his room.

"Now look! You have to cut this out! You can't cry every time you feel sad! You just have to suck it up and go on with your day! You can't come around here and disturb me and my vassals just because you feel like it!" Laharl yelled cruelly. This didn't serve much purpose since all he succeeded in doing was making Flonne cry harder. (Which was seemingly impossible by any standards.)

Flonne climbed to her feet. She looked at Laharl hatefully with tears in her eyes.

"Why are you being so cruel? I did nothing to deserve this kind of treatment! I just wanted to spend a little time with you since I hadn't seen you in a while! But you haven't changed at all! You still hate me!" Flonne screamed. She shoved Laharl hard, knocking him off his feet and ran out of his room, leaving Laharl awestruck. He had never seen Flonne that angry and hurt before. He didn't think she had it in her to yell at him that way.

"Well, she's out of my hair now. Good riddance I say. She was a nuisance anyway." Laharl thought aloud as he stood up and dusted himself off. He sat down on his couch and pulled out a small box from underneath it. He opened the box and picked up a small picture that was inside of it. It was a picture that He and the rest of his "friends" took before Flonne left. He stared at himself and realized something that horrified him and made him happy at the same time. He was smiling. Laharl had never taken a picture where he was smiling before. He gazed over the picture. Flonne was standing right next to him, giving him one of her "hugs". He threw the picture to the ground and ran out of his room. He ran out of the throne room and into the conjoining hallway. He passed Longinus as he ran up the second set of stairs and into the common room which held the Rosenqueen shops and the hospital and item world as well as the dark assembly and the dimensional gate.

"Why do I even care what happens to her? It shouldn't even matter to me but yet, here I am, chasing her down." He thought to himself. He ran up to the dimensional gatekeeper.

"Did you see Flonne run through here?" Laharl asked urgently.

"Yes. She wanted to go to Jotunheim. She looked pretty sad, so I let her go through." The dimensional gatekeeper said in a monotone manner.

"Why did you do that for?" Laharl snapped.

"She made it seem like it was important, so I let her go through." The gatekeeper responded.

"That stupid girl! She's going to get herself killed! And I actually care!" Laharl shot past the gatekeeper and into the gate. He was taken to Jotunheim and saw footprints in the snow. He figured that she wouldn't be too far away if they hadn't already been covered with the falling snow already. As he was examining the tracks, he heard a feminine scream.

"Help! Help me!" The voice cried out urgently.

Laharl recognized the voice immediately and ran off in the direction it came from. He arrived in time to see Flonne being assailed by a group of zombies and a Fafnir. She didn't have her bow on her or any other weapon for that matter. She must have left her stuff in Etna's room when she was taken in there. Laharl drew his sword and addressed Flonne's assailants loud and clearly.

"You lowlifes back away from the girl! This is a direct order from the current reigning overlord! Should you refuse to obey my command, you will be eradicated!" Laharl yelled triumphantly.

"We don't give a damn if you're the current overlord or not. You're going to be a pile of ash when I'm done with you!" The Fafnir shouted.

"You have the audacity to oppose your overlord? Then you'll receive proper punishment!" Laharl raised his sword and jumped into the air.

"Dimension Sword!" Laharl shouted as he swung the sword with everything he had in him. A large shockwave emanated from the edge of his sword and cut the Fafnir, as well as the ground it was standing on, clear in half. The zombies faced one another before focusing on Laharl. They all leapt out at him at once.

"You should know when you're overstepping your boundaries, boy." One of the zombies snapped.

"And you should know how to properly address your overlord." Laharl retorted before slaying the three of them in one motion. The zombies fell to the ground and laid motionless. Laharl holstered his sword and walked forward.

Flonne watched on as Laharl walked towards her. She wanted to stay mad at him but she found that she couldn't. She was too happy to see that he came back for her. Tears began to fall silently down her cheeks. Laharl ran a hand across her face and dried her tears.

"If you don't wanna freeze your face off, you'd better stop crying. Three times is enough for one day." Laharl said coolly.

"Why did you come back for me?" Flonne said timidly.

"I don't know. I didn't want to at first but the next thing I knew, I found myself killing those weaklings." Laharl indicated the corpses of the demons he just slayed.

"So you didn't come here because…." Flonne stopped short of a full sentence.

"Because what? What were you gonna say?" Laharl asked.

Flonne stared at Laharl for a minute. She looked deeply into his eyes and saw a slight glimmer of compassion. She leaned forward and kissed him softly.

"It's nothing. Can you take me back now? It's cold here." Flonne said quietly.

Laharl stood silent, stunned by Flonne's kiss. He took her by the hand and brought her back to the dimensional gate and returned to the overlord's castle. The two walked in silence. Laharl had not spoken since the two returned from Jotunheim. Upon arrival, Laharl released Flonne's hand and walked back to his room. Etna had awakened shortly before Laharl's return and encountered him in the hallway near his room.

"Hey, Prince. Did something happen? You look kinda…out of it." Etna noticed.

"Could I get back to you later? I don't really feel like talking right now." Without waiting for a response, Laharl walked past Etna and into his room. He shut the door tightly and locked it.

"What's up with him? He's normally not like that." Etna thought to herself. She turned around to head towards the Rosenqueen shops when she noticed Flonne was walking around in a haze of sorts. Etna approached her and tapped her on the shoulder to gain her attention.

"Umm, Flonne? Are you alright? You seem more dazed than usual." Etna inquired suspiciously. She thought to herself about how strange Laharl was acting and tried to compare it to the way Flonne was acting right now.

"It's nothing. I'm just…really happy is all." Flonne replied dreamily. She played the image of her kissing Laharl over and over in her head.

"Is it me, or has everyone but me gone through a major mood swing?" Etna thought.

"Is there anything else you want?" Flonne asked innocently.

"Well there is one small thing. Did something happen to the prince? He seemed kinda out of it. He just went and locked himself in his room." Etna explained.

"Really?" Flonne snapped out of her daze and focused on Etna clearly now.

"Yeah. I went to sleep for a few minutes and when I woke up, he looked kind of…I don't know how to explain it."

"Well…." Flonne went on to explain the whole thing to Etna, omitting the part about the kiss.

"Wow. So the prince went through the trouble of saving you? That's…not like him. But right now, we can't be concerned with that. I wonder how the scout's progress is going…" Etna said as she headed towards the recently added communications room. It had been created from the technology that the EDF left behind. The door slid open and Etna stepped inside and equipped a headset. She tuned into frequency 141.92 and opened a communication line.

"Scout 1, do you read? Repeat, scout 1, do you read me?" Etna spoke into the headset.

"Scout 1 here. What is it OC?" The scout replied. OC was short of Overlord's Castle.

"How's progress on finding the index going?"

"I spotted the individuals holding the index. One male and one female. They're headed towards a shop of some sort." The scout responded.

"Two people? According to the prinny, it was one person." Etna mumbled under her breath.

"What was that, OC? The transmission sounded kind of muffled."

"It's nothing. Continue watching the individuals but do not take action as of yet. Keep me informed." Etna closed the communication line and removed the headset.

During this time, Miroku and Chiaki entered the occult shop and looked around the strange store. Miroku turned around and eyed the building across the street.

"Is something wrong?" Chiaki asked.

"No, not really. I could just swear that we're being watched." Miroku said uneasily.

"You're probably just being paranoid. Calm down and help me find the shop owner." Chiaki replied.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Miroku said with a laugh.

Chiaki walked further to the back of the store. Miroku followed closely behind her. He didn't particularly care for shops like these although many of them covered the small area around the mall. Chiaki pushed past a beaded curtain to a small desk in the back. Miroku walked up beside her and eyed a small orb on the desk with a sign underneath it which read "Place hand on orb to summon shopkeeper." He tapped Chiaki and pointed to the sign. Chiaki placed a hand over the orb and it quickly changed color from blue to yellow and emitted a chorus of ethereal chimes. Light flooded the room, causing Miroku and Chiaki to close their eyes. The light slowly died down and disappeared as a young woman with long blonde hair and a flowing blue dress appeared in front of them.

"You summoned me?" The young lady asked.

"Are you the owner of this store by any chance?" Miroku asked.

"Yes I am. Well I am now anyway." The young woman replied.

"Chiaki, you told me that the owner of the store was an old woman, not this charming young lady." Miroku said with a certain charm.

"Put your tongue back inside your head, Miroku." Chiaki scolded.

"You're quite a handsome young man. I haven't seen you here before." The young woman spoke as she eyed Miroku up and down.

"Well, this is my first time in this shop." Miroku replied.

"Well, what is it that you require?"

"I bought this indicator yesterday, but it doesn't work." Chiaki said as she pushed past Miroku.

"Well, do you know what the problem is?" The young woman asked as she took the indicator from Chiaki and inspected it.

"If I did, I wouldn't be here. Now what happened to the previous owner of the store, and just who exactly are you?" Chiaki inquired.

"My name is Mimiru. The last owner of the store was my mother. She left the store in my care while she travels the world in search of new valuables for the shop." Mimiru explained.

"Well, maybe you can tell me what's wrong with this thing then."

"Hmm…." Mimiru looked the indicator over and finally found the root of the problem.

"Well?" Chiaki asked impatiently. The only reason she was in such a mood was because she looked back and saw that Miroku hadn't taken his eyes off of Mimiru since she showed up.

"The indicator has no arc crystal. It's just like mother to forget to give you one when she sold you this. I think I have another one around here somewhere." Mimiru stated as she turned and looked at the shelves behind her.

"An arc crystal? What exactly is an Arc Crystal?" Chiaki asked of Mimiru.

"An Arc Crystal is essential for a netherworld tool such as this one to work in the human world. Ah-ha!" Mimiru exclaimed as she located the spare arc crystal she had on the top shelf. She reached for it but wasn't quite tall enough to get it down without assistance.

"You found a spare?" Chiaki asked hopefully.

"Yes, but…I can't quite reach it." Mimiru said, embarrassed.

"I can get it down for you if you'd like." Miroku said.

"Could you? That'd be great." Mimiru requested sincerely.

Miroku stepped behind the counter and reached up to the shelf. He pulled down a small black box with small blue gems embedded in it. Mimiru watched Miroku from behind as he pulled the box down.

"You could put your eyes back in your head now." Chiaki thought to herself as she glanced at Mimiru who was examining Miroku.

Miroku turned and handed the box to Mimiru.

"Is this what you were talking about?" Miroku asked.

"Yes, that's it. Thank you." Mimiru responded as she opened the box. Inside the box was a crystal which glowed with a semi-florescent purple glow.

"So how is this supposed to get the indicator to work?" Chiaki asked, now intrigued by the crystal.

"Well, you just place the crystal in this chamber here and it works almost like a battery." Mimiru explained as she placed the arc crystal into the small chamber in the center of the indicator.

The indicator hummed a low pitch as it came to life. The hum slowly died down as the indicator began to run at top efficiency.

"Try it now." Mimiru said as she handed the indicator to Chiaki.

"Well, since you were going to be the first one to try it anyway, come here, Miroku." Chiaki beckoned Miroku to her side. He walked over to her and held his wrist out knowingly. Chiaki placed the indicator on his wrist and secured the strap. The needle again made a full circle, but this time, a screen rolled out of the side of the indicator and gave a number representation of Miroku's mana power as well as his place in a netherworld. Chiaki, Mimiru and Miroku stared in amazement at the results of Miroku's scan.

"I don't believe this. The indicator says that you have over 22 million mana points. Your placement in a netherworld would be at the rank of an overlord." Mimiru exclaimed.

"If he's got that much mana power, I wonder how I would rank." Chiaki said aloud as she removed the indicator from his wrist. She placed it on herself as the indicator went through the usual sequence before revealing her mana power. Miroku's jaw dropped and Chiaki's eyes widened as her results came in.

"Why, this is unprecedented! There has never been anything like this before. It says here that you have over _25_ million mana points and that you would fall under the role of an overlord as well." Mimiru exclaimed in an awestruck manner.

And that's the end of chapter four. So far, this is my longest chapter to date. I tried to work really hard on this one. My .Hack/Sign soundtrack really helped my focus. So, I'll be taking a brief period to rest before working on the next chapter. And because I didn't get around to it in this chapter, I'll be releasing a full profile on the original characters in the next chapter. And like I said at the top as well as in the rest of my chapters, if you have any questions or comments, leave it in a review and I'll address it ASAP.


	5. Subchapter 1

A New Overlord

Since I had some spare time on my hands, I decided to create this subchapter. Rather than putting the information for the original characters at the beginning of a fresh chapter, I decided to give this section a chapter all its own. As it stands, these are the only original characters appearing in the fan fiction but, if I do decide to create more; their information will be put in a subchapter such as this one. This is why I dubbed this subchapter 1.

Subchapter 1: Original Character Introduction

A person walks to the center of an empty stage as a spotlight follows the person.

"Hello readers! I thank all of you who have been reading this fan fiction all the way through. I am Ryudo, or better known as Twilight BladeMaster, the author of this fan fiction. This has been a bit of challenge for me as I have not written fan fiction in a long time. But I'm glad to see that there are some of you who actually read my series instead of grazing it. Now, as I realize, original characters have played a pivotal role in the human world so I decided to give you a profile of each of them so that you can better understand them and how they interact with each other and their environment. So, without further ado, I give you Ryudo's subchapter profiling session!"

Crickets can be heard as there is no applause or praise or any such type of noise. Ryudo clears his throat as he continues with his profile rundown.

"Well then, I guess I should introduce our first guest. Please give a warm welcome to Chiaki Hyafumi!"

Uproarious applause can be heard as Chiaki takes center stage beside Ryudo.

"Thank you so much! You're all very sweet." Chiaki exclaims energetically.

"Thank you for joining us today, Chiaki. I figured we'd begin the show with the first original character to show up in this series." Ryudo explains.

"I see. That does make sense." Chiaki replies.

"Now then, let's just get a bit of basic information on Ms. Hyafumi." Ryudo states earnestly as a screen rolls down behind him and Chiaki.

Chiaki Hyafumi

Age: 15

Birthday: July 15th

Starsign: Cancer

Hair Color: Auburn

Eye Color: Green

Height: Five feet, two inches

Weight: 140 lbs

Favorite Color: Navy Blue

Favorite Food: Instant Noodles (Preferably Kimchi Flavor)

Mana Points: 25 Million

Netherworld Placement: Overlord

Human World Placement: High school Student

"Did they have to reveal my weight to the world?" Chiaki asked, embarrassed.

"The readers have a right to know these things. Be glad I convinced them not to give your bra size." Ryudo replied.

"What? They were going to do what?" Chiaki snapped.

"Anyway, let's move on. Tell us something about yourself." Ryudo sputtered nervously.

Chiaki regains her composure and complies with Ryudo's request.

"Well, let's see. Something that I can say about myself… I really don't care to talk about myself much so that's why this is somewhat hard for me. I guess you could already tell that I've been interested in the occult and things like that for a while. It hasn't been too long but long enough." Chiaki said thoughtfully.

"Really? And why is that?" Ryudo questioned.

"Well, it's an escape from the real world. I find the real world to be really boring sometimes so things like this at least give me something to occupy my time with. So I guess that could be considered a main reason." Chiaki replied smartly.

"Uh-huh. Well that's interesting. And what could you say about Miroku? How long have you known him and things like that?"

"Oh gosh, I've known Miroku since we were kids. His parents and mine used to live across the street from each other. When they found out that their kids were about the same age, they used to set up play dates and stuff. Miroku and I have been friends since then."

"Now you said "about" the same age. What does that mean?" Ryudo prodded.

"Well, Miroku is fourteen days older than me. He doesn't seem like it but he really is just a big kid at heart." Chiaki responded.

"I see. And what would you say about Miroku's overall personality?"

"Well, Miroku is a very nice guy. He can be annoying and thoughtless at times but he's good to have around. I don't think I would be the same without Miroku in my life. He's like my best friend." Chiaki replied while reminiscing about the past.

"Well, then why don't we bring him out here? And some chairs while we're at it?" Ryudo said pointedly.

"Yeah, that'd be fine with me. I'd like to sit anyway if this is going to take a while." Chiaki responded.

"Okay, so we'll take a brief intermission while we set up the stage. We'll be back in a few minutes or so."

The curtains close on the stage and sounds of scuffling and chatter can be heard behind it. The stage curtain reopens and the stage now has chairs. Ryudo and Chiaki have taken.

"Welcome back to Ryudo's subchapter profiling session! We're back with the lovely Ms. Hyafumi. When we last left off, we were about to invite Miroku down here. So without further ado, please put your hands together for Miroku Megami."

Miroku is met with uproarious applause as he walks to the center of the stage and takes a seat next to Chiaki.

"Thanks. Thanks for that. It's great to be here. You're too kind." Miroku appeals to the audience.

"Thank you for joining us today, Miroku. We're glad to have you here." Ryudo stated.

"Well it's great to be here. I think it's awesome that you'd have me here." Miroku replied.

"Well, let's just get a bit of basic info on Mr. Megami before we start." Ryudo said as he pointed to the screen behind them.

Miroku Megami

Age: 15

Birthday: July 1st

Starsign: Cancer

Hair Color: Blue/Black

Eye color: Amber

Height: Five Feet, Eleven Inches

Weight: 208 lbs

Favorite Color: Black and Gold

Favorite Food: Stuffed Clams

Mana Points: 22 Million

Netherworld Placement: Overlord

Human World Placement: High school Student

"Interesting stuff. Now I have a question for you." Ryudo stated with an inquisitive nature.

"Sure. Go for it." Miroku replied.

"It says here that you have amber colored eyes. That's pretty unusual. Have you always had them that color or are they contacts or something?" Ryudo asked.

"I've had amber eyes since I was born. It really is rare. I've seen almost no one with the same colored eyes in the real world. Only in anime and manga. But it is cool to have amber eyes. And the girls find it pretty attractive." Miroku said with self-content.

"I'll bet. Most women find exotic things like that attractive." Ryudo joked.

"Most, but not all." Chiaki chimed in.

"For sure. Kaname is a perfect example. She's a little bit more up your alley, eh Chiaki?" Miroku teased.

"I don't really care for your insinuation there, Miroku." Chiaki said seriously.

"Well, before we bring out our next guest, I have one more question for you, Miroku." Ryudo commented.

"Sure. Go right ahead."

"Well, it says on the data screen that you weigh 208 pounds, but you don't look like it. No offense but you actually look kinda scrawny."

"It's ok. I get that a lot. It's because I have a lot of concealed muscle. I don't look like much but I am pretty strong if I do say so myself. That 10th degree black-belt in jujitsu does pay off for something." Miroku replied.

"I see. Now that that's out of the way, let's introduce our next guest!" Ryudo exclaimed excitedly.

There was silence. No one came from backstage and the audience didn't applause. All was quiet. The sound of crickets could be heard in the silence.

"I think you're supposed to call out the next guest's name first." Chiaki instructed.

"Oh. I totally knew that. I was just testing you." Ryudo coughed nervously. A bead of sweat ran down his face which was flushed with embarrassment.

"I'm sure you did." Chiaki said skeptically.

"And with that, allow me to introduce Kaname Sadamoto! Give her a hand!" Ryudo said energetically as he tried to cover for his mistake.

The audience gave a half-hearted applause before Kaname came up. The applause then rose loudly as she walked to the empty chair near Miroku. She took a seat and waved to the audience.

"Thanks for being so nice, everyone! I really feel happy to be here!" Kaname yelled to the crowd.

"Welcome to the show, Kaname." Ryudo said politely.

"Thank you. It's nice to be here. But off the bat, I have a question to ask." Kaname said, slightly embarrassed.

"Sure. Ask away."

"Well, actually, it's a question for Miroku." Kaname indicated.

"A question for me?" Miroku echoed.

"I was just wondering if you could switch seats with me. If it's not too much to ask of course." Kaname asked, her face slightly red.

"Please, no, anything but that. Don't move your seat, Miroku. Please. Don't let that psycho sit next to me." Chiaki whispered quietly to herself.

Miroku had caught most of what she was saying since he had been sitting right next to her. He smiled wickedly and turned to Kaname.

"I'd be happy to switch seats with you. Here you go." Miroku said as he got up.

"Thanks. I just felt that…I'd be more comfortable in that seat." Kaname explained, obviously lying through her teeth to Chiaki and Miroku.

"Sure. It's not a problem." Miroku replied, going along with her.

"Everyone comfortable? We can move on now?" Ryudo asked pleasantly, masking his impatience.

"Yes." Miroku said quickly.

"Completely." Kaname said happily, fondling Chiaki's hand on the arm rest.

"Not really…." Chiaki mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" Ryudo inquired.

"Oh, I said really." Chiaki said uncomfortably, trying to draw her hand away from Kaname's.

"Well, not that that's done, let's get our basic info on Ms. Sadamoto." Ryudo said with his trademark vigor as he pointed to the screen behind him.

Kaname Sadamoto

Age: 15

Birthday: August 26th

Starsign: Virgo

Hair Color: Emerald with jade highlights

Eye color: Blue

Height: Five feet, Seven inches

Weight: 135

Favorite Color: Jeweled Colors (Emerald, sapphire, etc.)

Favorite Food: Chocolate

Mana Points: Over 13 thousand

Netherworld Placement: Warrior/Royal Guard

Human World Placement: High school student/ High school hallway security

"Interesting info, to be sure." Ryudo quipped.

Chiaki squirmed uneasily in her seat as Kaname continued to fondle Chiaki's hand. She slid her hand out from under Kaname's only for Kaname to grab it again and hold on slightly tighter.

"Is something wrong, Ms. Hyafumi?" Ryudo asked with a concerned tone of voice.

"Nothing at all. I'm fine." Chiaki said through grated teeth.

"Good. Now we can ask our new guest some questions." Ryudo exclaimed.

"Sure. I'd be okay with that." Kaname said happily.

"Now, we have to start with the one fans want to know most. What is your exact sexual preference?" Ryudo prodded.

"Wow. That's a bit personal isn't it? I wasn't really expecting that." Kaname said with a nervous laugh.

It wasn't that she was ashamed with the fact that she was a lesbian. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The only thing that bothered her about the question is if they asked who she was interested in and that would be rather embarrassing for her.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Ryudo said with slight disappointment.

"No, it's quite alright. I don't mind. For all of you who want to know, I'm a lesbian." Kaname said strongly.

The crowd gasped slightly but soon applauded her for her bravery. They were sympathetic with the amount of courage it took to pull something like that off with such confidence.

"Wow. You were pretty brave to come out like that. And so proudly too." Ryudo replied.

"Well, the way I see it, there's nothing wrong with being a lesbian. If you don't like it, then don't associate with me. Simple as that." Kaname said simply.

"Wow. I never would have guessed." Chiaki said wryly.

She continued to try and pull her hand away. She succeeded when Kaname lifted her hand up to fix her shirt. She placed her hands in her lap and sighed with relief.

"Well, we do have a few more questions for you. We just figured we'd get the biggest one out first. Anyway, what kind of training do you have? I mean, you're hallway security and you do have to be prepared for anything right?" Ryudo asked curiously.

"Well, I'm a regular to the kendo club and I did take a bit of Buddhist martial arts in my spare time. But I'm most comfortable with the way of the bushido. So I guess you could say that most of my training is in kendo." Kaname explained.

"Interesting. So you're more for CQC than ballistics." Ryudo said.

"Wait a minute, I'm confused. What's CQC?" Chiaki inquired.

"Oh. CQC is an acronym for Close Quarters Combat." Kaname responded smartly.

"So that's why you lunged at me with the kendo stick." Miroku reminisced.

"Yeah, that and it was part of the script." Kaname replied.

"Script? You got a script?" Miroku asked suspiciously.

"Now then, let's move on! Plenty more to do!" Ryudo sputtered nervously.

"So what else do you wanna know?"

"Well, I would ask you more but we do have to move on to our next guest. Our time is running short." Ryudo said disheartened.

"Explain to me how you got a script. I've been doing improv this whole time. I didn't think there was a script." Miroku continued to rant.

"I'll explain it after the show alright?" Kaname snapped, sick of Miroku's ranting over something so miniscule.

"And on that note, please give it up for our last guest, Mimiru Atelier!" Ryudo cheered.

Mimiru appeared from behind the curtain and walked down to the center of the stage, accompanied by the loud applause from the crowd and wolf whistles from the men in the audience. She decided to drag it out a little as she made a quick spin, allowing the bottom of her dress to flare up a little, gaining much more applause from the male audience before taking a seat next to Miroku.

"Welcome to the show, Mimiru. Glad to have you here." Ryudo said happily.

"I'm glad to be here. And such a warm reception. Thank you all!" Mimiru smiled as she waved to the crowd.

"They're obviously glad that you're here as well. Now what say we get right down to it with our basic information?" Ryudo asked rhetorically as he pointed to the screen behind him.

Mimiru Atelier

Age: 17

Birthday: December 25th

Starsign: Capricorn

Hair Color: Blonde with Goldenrod highlights

Eye Color: Amber

Height: Five feet, Four inches

Weight: 125 lbs

Favorite Color: Metallic Colors

Favorite Food: Most Sweets

Mana Points: Over 325 thousand

Netherworld Placement: Overlord's advisor/Overlord's wife

Human World Placement: Shopkeeper

"That's some interesting stuff right there. And I've never seen an overlord's wife placement before." Ryudo exclaimed.

"I could explain that if you like." Mimiru said knowingly.

"That'd probably be helpful. Please enlighten us." Ryudo said, waiting for an explanation.

"Well, in a netherworld marriage, the wife of the overlord should have a mana count over 3 thousand in order to take the throne temporarily or permanently if anything should happen to the current overlord. In order to be an overlord, you have to have over 1 million mana points." Mimiru explained, taking careful attention to detail.

"But why 3 thousand?" Ryudo asked.

"Well, if they should have a child, the child gets 30 percent of its mana points from its father and 70 percent from its father. So you see, in a typical husband and wife arrangement, the mother would have to be able to produce a successor to the throne which would mean that the successor would have to have at least 1 million mana points. It sounds complex but it isn't really. Although there are a few discrepancies such as what would happen if the female were overlord and things like that but it's generally the same arrangement. I'm in the process of writing a book on it." Mimiru answered.

"Well, it'll be sure to be an interesting read. Also, I have to say, it is interesting that you too have amber colored eyes like Miroku. I thought it was supposed to be a rare eye color and yet there are two of you right here." Ryudo pointed out.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I didn't expect there to be another one when I met her." Miroku stated.

"I was surprised as well when I first met Miroku, because, like him, I had never met another person with amber colored eyes before." Mimiru said.

"So it's almost like you instantly have something in common." Ryudo said plainly.

"You could look at it like that. I'm sure we have lots of other things in common too. He seems like a nice guy." Mimiru placed her hand on Miroku's, making him blush furiously. She giggled quietly to herself at his reaction.

"There's also something about your name. Isn't it an alchemist's workshop?" Ryudo asked curiously.

"Yes it does. It's pronounced Ah-tel-ee-ay. It sounds like a French word but I'm not really sure it is." Mimiru replied.

"Well that is interesting. The owner of an occult shop with the name of an alchemist's workshop. It's been an interesting day here with all of you. I feel like I've learned much more about you. But sadly, our time is up. It was great having you all here with us and I'm glad to have had this opportunity to spend such valuable time with each of you. I'm sure we'll meet again in another subchapter, but that's all for now. Join us next time!" Ryudo said with vigor and excitement.

The curtain slowly drew to a close as the music accompanied everyone off stage and out of the studio.

And that is the end of my first subchapter. I can now get back to work on the main storyline. I just figured this would help explain the original main characters a little better and it also gave me a brief refresher period to gain new ideas for the main story. Again, any questions or comments can be left in a review and I'll address them ASAP.


	6. Chapter 5

A New Overlord

The fifth chapter of my Disgaea fan fiction. I just want to thank all of you who have continued to read my fan fiction in its entirety. I've been working at it so I think I'm starting to get back into the swing of writing. Now then, without further ado, I present the fifth chapter of Disgaea: A New Overlord.

Chapter 5: The Uninvited Guests

Chiaki looked on in silent amazement at her readout from the mana power indicator. Not only had she received an overlord ranking as Miroku had but she also surpassed him as well. Mimiru stared quietly for a minute before breaking the silence between the three of them.

"I've never seen anything quite like this before. Although I haven't had much personal experience with it, the chances of two people with such high mana counts being in the same room are astronomical. And to receive the same rank as well….well it's just unbelievable." Mimiru explained.

"I couldn't believe it either. I never expected to get such a high count, let alone think that Chiaki could pass me by that much. But, truthfully, how do we even know if the reading is accurate or not? I mean, it's not like any of us have used something like this before. What if it's a fluke? What if it gives everyone approximately the same readout?" Miroku inquired thoughtfully.

"I'm not usually one to be skeptic about something like this, but he does raise a good point. How can we be sure that this item actually works the way it's supposed to?" Chiaki added.

"Are you insinuating that the items sold in this store aren't fully functional? I assure you that everything we get is top quality and works as it should." Mimiru replied curtly. She wasn't one to deal with people ridiculing the quality of the items sold in her mother's store. Even more so now that the store was in her care.

"No, that's not what I meant. I mean, if we don't know exactly how this thing can be accurate, we can't just take the readout at face value."

"And besides, I don't think that in real life, Chiaki could surpass me by that much. I mean, how can a known good-for-nothing like Chiaki get a number that surpasses me by that much? It's just not possible." Miroku said plainly. He was completely oblivious to how Chiaki could possibly react to a statement like that.

"You just can't leave things alone, can you? You have to keep opening your mouth." Chiaki said through clenched teeth.

"No, I didn't mean to say it out like that. You're taking it the wrong way, Chiaki." Miroku appealed.

"And there's supposed to be a right way to listen to someone call you a good-for-nothing?" Chiaki shouted.

Chiaki pounced on Miroku, landing him on the floor and her on his midsection, pinning him down. She beat him furiously, kicking up dust from the floor until the two of them disappeared in a cloud of dust. Mimiru's eyes widened as Chiaki began to beat Miroku before the two of them disappeared from her view.

"Please, no fighting in the store! You're going to break everything and mother is going to blame it on me!" Mimiru pleaded as she caught a few objects which fell off of nearby shelves.

"Never has anyone been so dense as to not leave things alone and constantly complicate things! With all the constant ridicule and annoyance that I have to deal with from you, it's absolutely infuriating!" Chiaki yelled as she continued to beat Miroku relentlessly.

"Chiaki, you have to knock it off! If you wreck everything, I don't have the money to pay for it. Calm down, please!" Miroku begged between grunts of pain from shots from Chiaki that were particularly strong. He shielded his face with his arms and tried to steel his body so he didn't take as much pain until Chiaki tired herself out.

"Please stop, you're going to ruin everything. I'm begging you, stop fighting!" Mimiru begged urgently while trying to keep a shelf from tipping over.

People who bypassed the store peered into the window to watch the assault. Some only looked briefly before continuing about their day as if nothing was wrong. The scout across the street watched silently as he viewed the mana indicator, which sat unguarded on the counter. Mimiru, in an attempt to reconcile the situation without drawing any more attention to the shop, ran to the windows and pulled the shades closed, obscuring the interior of the store from view. She quickly turned the sign, which read "open" to those on the outside, to the side which read "closed". The scout who was watching ran across the street and into a back alley behind the occult shop and watched from a courtesy window in the back. He opened a communications line with the Overlord's Castle to report his progress.

"OC come in. Do you read me, OC? I repeat, OC, do you read me?" The scout spoke into his command set.

Etna walked over to the control panel and donned a headset and raised the communication line.

"Copy that, Scout 1. OC responds. What's you're current status?" Etna asked professionally. She had spent the past few nights watching old war and spy-fiction films in order to get her terminology and contact manner refined and correct.

"I'm standing at a service window behind the building currently housing the mana index. It seems a fight has broken out between the persons who have the index in their current possession." The scout reported.

"And the index; is it safe?" Etna asked with concern.

"It has been left unguarded on a counter. It is still in prime condition." The scout replied.

"Good. You are authorized to take action. Retrieve the mana index, attempting to remain unseen." Etna ordered.

"Yes ma'am. But there doesn't seem to be any accessible entry into the shop." The scout responded.

A steel plate shot through the window as the scout ducked quickly to dodge it. One second slower and it would have taken his head off. The shattered glass lay at his feet, almost forming an arrow as if telling him that an entry way had been creative.

"Well that's convenient." The scout thought aloud.

"What was that, Scout 1?" Etna asked over the headset.

"Nothing ma'am. An artificial entry-way has been created for me. Heading in to retrieve the mana index now. Scout 1, out." The scout spoke into the headset before closing the communication line.

In the Overlord's Castle, Etna removed the headset and closed the communication line on her end. She rushed over to Laharl's room to inform him of the scout's progress. She put her hand on the doorknob and turned it. She pulled on the door firmly, but to no avail. Laharl's room was still locked.

"Prince, are you still in there? I need to tell you something. It's kinda important." Etna called beyond the door. No response came, angering Etna, who believed that Laharl was still in there.

"Dammit, Prince! Open the goddamn door before I kick it in!" Etna shouted. Still no response came. She banged on the door twice before placing her ear to it to verify whether or not Laharl was in there.

Etna listened for a moment at the door. She could hear soft murmuring from beyond the door. She could make out the voices, but just barely. It seemed Laharl and Flonne were having a private conversation. A conversation that Etna was dying to hear. She hurried back to the communications room and opened a steel locker. Inside was a bunch of small containers shaped sort of like briefcases. She pulled one out and opened it on the desk. Inside was a small, prinny shaped figure and a control. She removed the briefcase's contents and laid them out on the counter. She took a small disk and placed it into the main computer which brought up a video feed on the screen. She picked up the control and the prinny figure and walked back to Laharl's room. She placed it on the floor near the edge of the door. She pushed it underneath the gap between the floor and the door with the end of her spear. She ran back to the communications room before she was spotted and took the controller in hand. She pressed a button and the interior of Laharl's room became visible.

"Now then, Prince. Let's just see what you're up to using my brand new Prinny-cam." Etna thought aloud.

She manipulated the control so that the prinny-cam was standing upright and walked it further into the interior of Laharl's room. Flonne and Laharl became visible on the screen as she moved closer to them. They were sitting on Laharl's bed, talking.

"Now, let's see what you two are talking about without me." Etna said deviously. She pressed a button on the controller and a small speaker appeared on the side of the prinny-cam's head, where its ears would be if prinnies had ears.

"So that's how you really feel, huh? Well, I don't know how to respond to something like that." Laharl said coldly.

"Well, if you feel the same, then say it back." Flonne said hopefully.

"What the hell is going on? What are they talking about?" Etna questioned as she slowly moved the prinny-cam closer to the edge of Laharl's bed.

"I don't think I can. Not yet anyway. I'm not even supposed to be thinking about this but I find myself thinking about it more often than not. More so after what happened." Laharl responded to Flonne. He stared into her eyes for a minute and then looked back down at the floor.

"Dammit! Just say what you're talking about! This is so annoying. Eavesdropping should never be this hard!" Etna cried aloud in frustration. She liked to be in on everything that was going on in the netherworld, even if the party in question had no idea.

"So you're telling me…."no"?" Flonne asked sadly.

"Not "no". Just not yet." Laharl replied as he ran hand down Flonne's thigh.

Flonne pushed Laharl's hand off of her thigh and looked at him angrily.

"Don't touch me if you can't say it back." Flonne snapped coldly.

"Say what back? What's going on?" Etna thought to herself. She had millions of theories running through her head but the most prominent was that Laharl and Flonne were toying around with the idea of a potential relationship. The only thing that kept her from believing it was the fact that she didn't believe Laharl would be one to commit to a serious relationship. She had doubts that Laharl even knew what a serious relationship was.

Etna closed all communication lines and walked out of the communications room. She headed towards the main conjoining hallway and took right into her secret room where her diary was located. She undid the lock and turned to a fresh page near the back of the book. She took the pen from its holster and began to write.

"Something is going on and it concerns Laharl and Flonne. I have no idea what but I'm not going to rest until I find out. Ever since the prince grew up, he's changed. I mean physically of course. Sure he may have gotten taller and his voice has gotten deeper but he still has the mind of a little kid. At least from what I know of him. Anyway, Flonne came down to visit and since she got here, the prince has been acting strange and Flonne has been more out of it than usual. There's something interesting going on here and I'm going to find out. Nothing goes on in this kingdom without me knowing about it. I can't break my streak."

Etna placed the pen back in its holster and closed the diary. She closed the lock and hid the key in the usual hiding spot. She closed the door and walked back out of the room. She came out in time to see Laharl get slapped by Flonne. Hard. Laharl stood for a moment and stared on at Flonne, his hand holding his cheek.

"You insensitive jerk! After all the trouble I went through, you're not going to even say something so simple? I don't even know why I thought you would have changed." Flonne shouted.

Etna watched from the bottom of the staircase. Her outward silence masked her mind which was full of thoughts rushing this way and that.

"Why is Flonne like this? She's never been like this, ever. What could Laharl have done to cause such a radical change in her? And what was going on to make Laharl change the way he's been acting as of late? Nothing is making sense."

Flonne turned on a heel and stormed out of the front gate and headed towards the shopping district of Laharl's kingdom.

"ETNA! Get the prinny squad assembled! That scout is taking too long! I'm going back for the damn thing myself!" Laharl shouted. His voice was filled with such anger that it shook the castle rafters. Parts of old wall around the castle even crumbled at the force of his bellow.

"But Prince, you can't do that! It's too risky to storm the human world like that!" Etna explained frantically.

"Did I ask for your opinion? I'm tired of your goddamned condescending back talk and constant disrespect. From now on, when I give you an order, you'll heed my word without question! Got it?" Laharl snapped fiercely. He obviously wasn't in a talking mood. He jumped down from the top of the stairs and landed near Etna. He grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground.

"I asked you a question. Now, do you understand what I just told you?" Laharl asked maliciously. He loosened his grip slightly to allow Etna to speak clearly.

"Yes, Prince…" Etna started to fade out from lack of oxygen. She was losing consciousness when Laharl released her.

Etna fell to the floor, choking and gasping for air. Laharl snapped around, causing his cape to make a large arc. His footsteps were heavy and created an echo throughout the castle halls. Even his vassals who had been on the receiving end of his worst tantrums had never seen him like this. This was no simple temper flare. Laharl had a lust for violence and blood. Something had happened between Flonne and Laharl during the time Etna wrote in her diary and when she left the room to make Laharl have such a violent outburst.

"There is no logical explanation as to Laharl's aggravated behavior at this current time. No action can be taken due to lack of data. Assassination command has been put on standby in case of emergency." Thursday's voice came close. Apparently, he had witnessed the event along with Gordon as they were leaving the kitchen, having finished the duty Laharl bestowed upon them.

"Something is amiss. Laharl is acting abnormal. As a…." Gordon drew a deep sigh before completing his statement.

"As a _Slayer of the Netherworld_, I must see to it that Laharl's actions will not jeopardize the kingdom." Gordon said in his trademark American comic book hero tone of voice.

"I can calculate 300 clear and logical reason as to why you're last statement can be considered irrational, Gordon. The most pressing of them being the risk of mortal injury." Thursday said monotonously.

"I see. You raise a valid point, Thursday. We shall inspect Laharl from afar and act accordingly. I don't know where I'd be without you, Thursday."

"Most presumably dead in a ditch somewhere." Thursday responded.

While things were getting hectic at the castle, the situation was no better at Mimiru's occult shop. Chiaki, between taking a breath every now and then, had not stopped pounding Miroku. Most people wouldn't believe that she could continue to go on like that for so long but she was venting from years of frustration, whether it was caused by Miroku or otherwise. Taking advantage of the entrance that was created for him, the scout climbed in quietly through the broken window and snuck into the back room. Only a door separated him from the counter which held the index. Mimiru was busy tending to the fight and the store to notice him slip in and grab the index. The scout stood tall and pumped a fist in excitement.

"Mission accomplished. Now to return to the extraction point and return the index to Ms. Etna." The scout said quietly to himself. As he turned to walk out, a metal shield fell from the shelf above him and landed on him with a deafening crash.

Chiaki stopped beating on Miroku, who had protected himself considerably well from Chiaki's assault. Mimiru turned around while holding a couple of urns in her arms. The scout rubbed his head for a minute to soothe the pain before noticing that he had been spotted.

"Hey! That guy with the backpack is stealing my stuff!" Chiaki shouted, indicating the scout standing behind the counter.

"When did he get in here, and how?" Mimiru questioned.

"Mission compromised! I repeat, mission compromised!" The scout shouted into his headset as he ran towards the back door.

"Get back here with my stuff you thief!" Chiaki shouted as she gave chase.

Miroku stood up and dusted himself off as he turned to Mimiru and looked at her.

"I guess we don't have much of a choice but to follow her." Mimiru said flatly.

"You guessed right." Miroku said in response. He turned on a heel and followed after Chiaki and the scout.

Mimiru drew a deep sigh and rubbed her temples.

"Why'd this have to happen on my first day on the job?" Mimiru thought aloud.

She tore her dress off and revealed a pair of bell bottom jeans and a white T-shirt. She grabbed a pair of rollerblades from her shelf and strapped them on. She stood erect and shot out the door in order to catch up with Miroku and Chiaki. Miroku already had a pretty good head start and was closing ground on Chiaki. He pumped his legs hard to reach up to her until he was running alongside her.

"For a thief, this guy moves pretty fast. You have any idea where he's headed?" Miroku asked while keeping in pace with Chiaki.

"I don't even know the guy. How am I supposed to know where he's going?" Chiaki asked, slightly perturbed.

"Just an idle question. I got this, no trouble." Miroku sped up again and closed the distance between him and the scout. He could see him ahead of him as his image drew closer. The scout saw Miroku gaining on him out of the corner of his eye.

"Damn. These humans are pretty fast. I guess I have to slow him down by any means. I got it!" The scout snapped his fingers as his idea came to him. He stopped briefly and turned to Miroku.

"Giving up already?" Miroku asked confidently.

"No. I just figured things should go out with a blast. Dark Cannon!" The scout shouted as he raised his hands to the sky. A cannon grew from the ground and fixed its sight on the nearest target, Miroku.

"What the hell? Where did that come from?" Miroku stopped dead in his tracks.

The cannon made a locking sound as it auto-loaded its ammo supply and locked itself into position.

"What are you just standing there for? Move!" Chiaki shouted as she pushed Miroku to the side and leapt over the cannon. The head swiveled and rose to meet Chiaki in mid-air. There was no way she could escape the blast since she was already in the air.

"Stupid hunk of metal! Get the hell out of the way!" Miroku shouted as he pounded on it with everything he had. His fists bled slightly as he punched the hard surface of the cannon.

It seemed like Miroku was making a futile attempt until the cannon's screws came undone from the repeated shock of Miroku's powerful shots. The head of the cannon swiveled and fell off and rolled to the side, clearing the path for Miroku to continue to give chase and allow Chiaki to move on.

"Thanks! I didn't think you had it in you!" Chiaki shouted back as she continued to chase the scout.

"You know, you're pretty unbelievable when you need to be." Mimiru said as she rolled up alongside Miroku.

"Save the praise for another time. Right now we have to keep up with that thief." Miroku said as he shot off.

"Typical hero. Oh well." Mimiru thought aloud as she followed behind him.

Chiaki kept on after the scout who had lost his lead due to the fact that he stopped to summon the cannon. Chiaki looked ahead and saw where he was headed. The swirling portal at the end of the back alley he was headed towards was a dimensional gate. Chiaki had read about them on the net on many of the occult sites she visits to get her "info." Miroku finally managed to reach Chiaki and followed directly behind her due to the narrow size of the alley.

"Stop! Gimme back my mana indicator!" Chiaki shouted after the scout.

"It's not yours to have!" The scout shouted as he dove into the portal.

On impulse, Chiaki jumped in after him. After realizing what she had done, she had a moment of overwhelming fear wash over her. Miroku skidded to a stop before the portal and watched as Chiaki was taken down.

"Chiaki!" Miroku yelled down after her. She was already out of earshot and the gate was beginning to close.

"How am I supposed to help her out? What can I do?" Miroku questioned frantically. He could necessarily jump right in after her.

That was until Mimiru arrived. She couldn't stop in time and crashed into Miroku, knocking himself and her into the portal as it sealed itself shut. The foursome crashed onto the floor upon exiting the dimensional gate. The scout landed hard and the index fell out of his hands and skidded across the floor to Laharl's feet.

"It's about time! I was about ready to go up there myself." Laharl chastised the scout. He hunched down and grabbed the index from the floor and looked it over briefly before addressing the scout yet again.

"For your sake, you'd better hope it still works." Laharl said stiffly.

"Hey! I don't know who you are but you'd better give that back. I paid good money for that indicator." Chiaki shouted as she rose to her feet.

"Excuse me? This shouldn't even belong to you. And who are you to be addressing me in such a manner? Don't you know how to properly address royalty?" Laharl said as he focused his gaze intently on Chiaki.

"Who are you trying to kid? You don't look much older than me and you expect me to treat you with the respect of royalty?" Chiaki snapped back.

Laharl's other vassals gasped at Chiaki's remark. Sure, people had answered back to Laharl before but never had they questioned his position as overlord. An overlord's rule was absolute and was not to be questioned. Laharl's faced become a dark red as his face became flushed with anger. His arms shook violently at an ill-fated attempt at holding his anger back.

"Enough! Send them all to the dungeon! They are to be executed immediately!" Laharl shouted as he indicated Chiaki, Mimiru, and Miroku.

Laharl's vassals grabbed the trio, leaving the scout lying on the floor, and began to drag them down the hall to the stairs at the end. Laharl watched as the trio was escorted to the dungeon. After they disappeared from view, Laharl returned his gaze to the scout who had risen to his feet.

"And you….Do you have any idea how much danger you put this kingdom in by leading them here? You could have single handedly turned my kingdom into a tourist site if they escaped. You should consider yourself lucky that I'm leaving you with your life." Laharl explained grimly. He rubbed his temples, attempting to calm himself down.

"Yes, your highness. I'm sorry your highness. Please forgive me." The scout pleaded as he dropped down on one knee and appealed to Laharl for forgiveness.

Laharl drew a deep sigh and looked back at the scout. He placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay. You accomplished your mission. And you did a good job no less. Get out of here, Ferdinand. And don't tell anyone about this. As far as everyone else is concerned, I beat the hell out of you and let you limp back to your room. Got it?" Laharl said understandingly.

"Yes sir! Thank you!" Ferdinand said thankfully as he hurried back to his room.

Two gargoyles and a Fafnir took Chiaki and her friends to the dungeon room and headed far back to an area where there were still a few empty cells. The room was dark and smelled of wet dirt and concrete. The Fafnir grabbed Chiaki from one of the gargoyles, who proceeded to unlock the gate to the cell and threw Chiaki inside. He stepped over to the next cell and unlocked it and shoved Miroku inside. He then proceeded to walk to the last cell and unlocked it as well. He grabbed Mimiru from the Fafnir.

"Hey, watch the hands, buddy!" Mimiru shouted in response to and impromptu groping from the gargoyle.

"Shut up!" The gargoyle snapped as he threw her into the cell.

The three demons walked off until they disappeared from view behind the dim light of the candles that lined the wall. Miroku climbed to his feet and dusted the dirt off of him.

"You girls alright?" Miroku asked with concern.

"Not really, that demon groped me." Mimiru said as she sat down on the cot and brought her knees to her chest.

"Out of the two of us, he chooses to grope you?" Chiaki spoke across the cells to Mimiru.

"You're kidding me with that right? Are you actually jealous because Mimiru got groped and you didn't?" Miroku asked Chiaki through the wall.

"Not jealous, just curious is all." Chiaki said defensively. She had realized what she just said and couldn't believe that she was actually jealous of Mimiru for getting groped.

"Either way, we have to find a way to get out of here. Wherever here is anyway…." Miroku said dejectedly as he sat down on his cot. He buried his hands in his face and thought reviewed the events of what had transpired in his mind.

"Yeah. Come to think of it, we don't even know where we are. We didn't even notice that there were demons running around. How did we miss that?" Chiaki asked aloud. She couldn't believe that they were just arrested by demons and didn't see it as strange.

"Really. You think we would have noticed something like that way earlier. Normally, we should be freaking out about something like this but we're surprisingly calm as if nothing is wrong." Miroku mused.

"Well….I have a theory…." Mimiru said meekly. She was a still a little shaken by the demon's "contact" with her.

"Anything you've got would be helpful right now." Miroku said hopefully, wishing that Mimiru could make some sense out of what was going on.

"Well….since you guys have such an adept mana holding, I would think that maybe, just by chance, that this kind of thing would be typical for you if you can ascertain such a high mana count. Only demons and celestial beings can reach numbers that high. So maybe, being around people with similar mana counts brings nostalgia of sorts." Mimiru explained calmly.

"You know, as strange as that sounds, it does make sense." Chiaki remarked. She wondered how Mimiru could have such insight into things like this. At times, it seemed like she was more informed than Chiaki was but then again, it is to be expected when you own an occult shop.

"I think that would explain it. But what about you, Mimiru? How come you're so calm? You never got your mana power measured so we can't know for sure if it's the same case with you."

"You're right. I'm not exactly sure myself. Who knows? I could have a pretty high count, too." Mimiru replied to Miroku.

Mimiru's comment was returned with silence. Miroku had stopped talking.

"Miroku, are you alright in there?" Mimiru asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking…." Miroku's sentence trailed off into thought again. He walked up and down his cell, closely examining the wall.

"What's up? What are you thinking about?" Chiaki inquired of Miroku.

"I was just thinking….These walls look pretty old and worn, don't you think? I was just wondering if….Mimiru, move away from the wall." Miroku cautioned as he clenched a fist tightly.

"O-okay. But what are you thinking? What are you going to do?" Mimiru asked curiously.

Miroku stayed silent. He clenched his fist tightly and walked close to the wall. He slowly counted down from three under his breath. Then, releasing everything he had in him, he struck the wall with his right hand fist as hard as he could. Parts of the wall crumbled to dust while the rest shifted out of place, creating a hole in the wall which made his cell accessible to Mimiru's.

"Sure, ignore your friend of forever…" Chiaki said to herself.

"My god, Miroku. How did you get so strong? I never thought you could do stuff like this. I wasn't even expecting you to break that cannon and now this. You're really amazing." Mimiru exclaimed as she ran to Miroku on impulse.

Mimiru wrapped her arms around Miroku tightly and laid her head on his chest. She sighed happily, knowing that she no longer had to stay in her cell alone. Mimiru rarely acted impulsively but she was so glad to have Miroku next to her. She didn't have much experience at being alone. Even owning the shop was pretty stressful for her.

"I didn't do it on my own. Take a look at this." Miroku lifted his hand Mimiru.

Mimiru turned her head to the side and realized the Miroku's hand was covered by a somewhat fluorescent indigo colored flame.

"What? What's going on over there?" Chiaki questioned from her cell.

Mimiru opened her mouth to inquire the same thing of Miroku but was quieted by Miroku's warning to Chiaki.

"Now, step as far away from the wall as possible, Chiaki. Step to the opposite end of your cell." Miroku commanded.

"Okay, but what are you…." Chiaki fell silent as a loud crash made its way to her ears and the wall before her crumbled and shifted, creating a make-shift exit from her cell into Miroku's.

She rubbed her eyes in disbelief and stared on for a moment. She then moved past the rubble and into Miroku's cell where Mimiru and Miroku were standing, waiting for her.

"What the hell did you just do?" Chiaki asked with total shock.

"I'm not sure, but I think I may have channeled my mana which allowed me to break the wall. All I did was focus on the wall and hit it as hard as I could and when I looked down at my hand, it was covered with this." He lifted his hand and indicated the flames spiraling upward before fading out in sparks into the ceiling of the cell.

"But doesn't it burn or anything like that?" Mimiru asked from behind Miroku.

"Not really. It feels kinda warm. And also, a bit invigorating, but other than that, it doesn't really feel strange. It doesn't even hurt." Miroku said with surprise.

"I wonder if I can do anything like that. I mean, you said you think that it might be mana, right? So if you could channel it, I'm assuming I can do it too." Chiaki explained.

"True, that would make sense if you could do it too. It would also verify that this flame is mana power." Miroku replied.

The group's discussion was broken up as the sound of footsteps could be heard running down the hall, drawing closer to what was now one long cell. Two gargoyles, a Fafnir and a golem showed up standing in front of the conjoined cells.

"What the hell is going on back here?" The Fafnir demanded.

"They're instituting a prison break! Don't let them out!" The golem shouted.

"Looks like this is gonna get a little crazy. Hope you guys are ready for this." Miroku said with confidence.

Miroku tried to focus his mind on the swirling flame surrounding his hand. He breathed rhythmically as he focused only on the flame. Soon, the column rose and grew to immense proportions. The demons fell back a step in shock as they viewed his flame from outside the cell. Miroku grabbed two of the bars and bent them to the side, creating an exit for the group.

"Hey! Get back in there, damn you!" One of the zombies shouted at Miroku.

Miroku did not stop his forward advance and was thrust into battle. Since the hall was narrow, any fights that would take place within the dungeon keep would have to be one on one with anyone on either side of the active fighters could only play a support role from the back.

"I said halt!" The zombie shouted as he lunged towards Miroku. His hands sharpened and extended towards Miroku.

Miroku ducked and just barely missed the gyroscopic attack directed as him. He retaliated with a straight punch and knocked the zombie back into one of it's partners who raised him to his feet.

"Not bad for a human." The zombie praised as he wiped a small amount of blood from the corner of his mouth with his index finger. He snapped the blood to the floor with a swift motion and resumed his assault on the would-be escapees.

"Never fought a demon before. Thanks for the compliment, means a lot." Miroku said sarcastically.

"A wise-ass, huh? Well, you won't be cracking jokes for much longer." The zombie said as his mouth extended forward.

The zombie reared its head back slightly and seemed almost like he was retching. Miroku cringed as he was hit full on with what was known as a zombie puke attack. He suddenly held his stomach and felt rather sick himself. Miroku fell to his knees in nausea and covered his own mouth to keep him from hurling.

"Miroku, are you alright?" Chiaki asked urgently.

"I just got puked on by a zombie and now I feel sick to my stomach. Do I sound alright?" Miroku replied curtly.

"Serves you right. No one gets out of here on my watch." The zombie said with confidence and pride.

The zombie grabbed Miroku by the shoulder and hoisted him to his feet.

"I think the overlord would like to deal with this trouble-maker personally. Put the ladies back in the cell and get the prinnies down here to fix the busted walls. I'm gonna bring this one to the throne room." The zombie commanded.

The zombie, with Miroku in tow, moved past his cohorts and headed down the dungeon path until he and Miroku disappeared from view. The gargoyle grabbed Chiaki and slung her over his shoulder as he walked further into the dungeon to relocate her to another cell. The Fafnir took Mimiru and followed suit as he moved deeper into the dungeon interior.

"Fill out the paperwork for this, will ya?" The Fafnir asked rhetorically. He didn't expect to be opposed and he wasn't.

"Do this, do that. I'm telling you, I'm getting sick of that guy's attitude." The golem grumbled to no one in particular as he walked back to his post.

The zombie who had been escorting Miroku arrived in the throne room and approached the throne. He shoved Miroku hard so that he landed on his knees in front of the throne. Laharl raised his gaze from a book he was reading and eyed Miroku and the zombie.

"What do you want now?" Laharl asked impatiently.

"Your highness, this one tried to instigate a prison break and I figured you would like to deal with him personally." The zombie replied.

"And what would make you think that? Why would I wanna deal with something like this when I have you guys to do it for me?" Laharl responded with another question.

"Well, I believe that you would find it interesting that this human can manifest his mana." The zombie replied sure of himself.

"So? Humans can manifest their mana on occasion. What reason does that give you to disturb me? My patience is beginning to wear thin." Laharl retorted.

"Not to the degree that he did. I think he should be scanned by the mana index."

"You mean the indicator you stole from my friend?" Miroku said tersely as he looked up from the ground.

"Quiet! You'll speak when you're addressed!" Laharl shouted.

Miroku tried anxiously to break the restraints that were placed on his hands as the zombie took him to the throne room.

"Quit squirming!" The zombie commanded as he kicked Miroku in his chest.

Miroku rolled backwards and fell flat on the floor. He gasped from having the wind knocked out of him. He choked as he slowly began to catch his breath. He rolled over on his stomach and pressed his chest against the floor to give him the boost he needed to get back onto his knees again. He looked up hatefully at both Laharl and his vassal but bit his tongue to avoid getting into a fight where he couldn't defend himself. He bowed his head in silence and allowed Laharl's discussion to continue.

"He's got some fight in him but that doesn't prove anything. If he has as much ability with his mana channeling as you say he does, retrieve the mana index from my room and bring it back here. I'll examine him myself." Laharl said as he beckoned his vassal away.

Laharl again set his sights on Miroku and sized him up before addressing him.

"What's your name anyway?" Laharl inquired.

"What's it to you?" Miroku grumbled under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Laharl said fiercely.

"I said; what's it to you?" Miroku's voice rose in anger.

"Do you have any idea how to address royalty? Seeing as how you might be here for a while if I'm in a good mood, you should know how to address your overlord." Laharl stated, trying to keep his cool.

"I see. So just where the hell am I anyway?" Miroku asked with disregard to Laharl's previous statement.

"You mean, you came here and you don't even have any idea where you are?" Laharl asked incredulously.

"If I knew where I was, I wouldn't be asking, now would I?" Miroku snapped. He'd rather be killed than relinquish his pride.

"Whatever. Keep the brave face if you want. It's not going to help you at all. Either way, you're in the netherworld. My netherworld. I'm the overlord here, which means you should give me the respect I deserve or suffer the consequences." Laharl said non-chalantly.

"The netherworld? Chiaki was right. Apparently the place does exist. I can't believe it." Miroku said under his breath.

The zombie came back from Laharl's quarters with the mana index in hand. He walked over to the throne and handed the index to Laharl.

"Undo his cuffs, Ricotta." Laharl commanded.

Ricotta obeyed Laharl's orders and walked behind Miroku and undid his cuffs. Miroku moved his arms stiffly before loosening up. He climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. He looked up at Laharl and sized him up.

"Present your wrist." Laharl demanded. He had a regal manner about him when he spoke.

Miroku, although grudgingly, complied and held his wrist forward. He briefly thought about making a break for it but assumed it was in his best interest to do whatever they said as of now. He had no weapon, no idea on how to escape or where to go and he didn't have the opportunity to rescue Chiaki and Mimiru from captivity. Laharl reached forward and tied the strap tightly around Miroku's wrist. The mana index did as it had before and revealed Miroku's mana count to Laharl and Ricotta. They stared in silent disbelief. They couldn't allow Miroku to have any idea of just how much of a threat he posed to the kingdom. Only Laharl himself and his most trusted vassals would be able to handle Miroku. Everyone else who resided in the Overlord's Castle would be helpless against Miroku if were able to harness the full power of his mana.

"Impressive for a human. I haven't seen a human with this much mana in quite a while. I can see why my vassal wished to notify me of his suspicions. What would you say to becoming one of my vassals? This opportunity doesn't come around for just everyone. If you decide to join me, you'll have the benefits of my other vassals."

"Like what? Having all your grunt work pawned off on me and be subject to having to deal with whatever tasks you're too lazy to handle yourself? No thanks, I'd rather stay as I am." Miroku remarked. His voice was filled with his trademark cynicism.

"Suit yourself, then. Take him to the dungeon, but put him in the isolation chamber." Laharl ordered. His waved Ricotta off.

Ricotta was just beginning to head out when Laharl shouted for him to return.

"Hold it! I just had a better idea!"

Ricotta turned to face his overlord and questioned him with a look.

"Get him some armor and let him have the weapon of his choice. It's been kinda boring around here and I can use some entertainment." Laharl explained.

"My lord, you're certainly not thinking of wasting your energy on this…this heathen?" Ricotta enquired.

"Of course not. He's so eager to have a brawl as he displayed in the dungeon. So I've decided to give my new guest his wish. Now get to the Rosenqueen shop and do as you are told. Tell them it is an order from the overlord. They'll hand over the equipment." Laharl answered. He grew excited to be witness to a battle after having a brief dry spell in the netherworld. It had been a while since Laharl had witnessed battle, much less participate.

Ricotta, though confused, obeyed his orders and led Miroku out of the throne room and into the main hall. The large double doors to the throne room closed behind them, removing them from Laharl's line of view. Etna, who had been listening on the conversation, approached Laharl who was unknowing of Etna's presence.

"What's your angle, Prince? What are you planning on doing with this guy?" Etna spoke as she came closer to the throne.

Laharl jumped slightly at the sudden appearance of Etna. He looked at her and noticed something was off. He looked her up and down for a minute before noticing what was different about her. Etna was not wearing her choker. Laharl thought back to a few minutes before and remembered what he had done. He assumed it was too much strain on her to have the choker on after what she had been through. He didn't want to bring it up though so went on answering her question.

"I just want to see just exactly what he can do. His numbers were extraordinary for a human. This should be good to see whether he is a threat or not. And if he dies, I can say I got rid of undue competition."

"Right. And if he wins?"

"I….didn't really think about that…." Laharl hung his head slightly, realizing what he had just done. But he wasn't going to withdraw his command now. He was intent on learning just what exactly Miroku was capable of.

"Well, if I may be so inclined as to give a suggestion." Etna said politely. Although she didn't normally address Laharl in that manner, she was still wary of him after his violent outburst just moments before.

"What do you have in mind?"

Moments later, a female cleric showed up in the dungeon and located Chiaki and Mimiru. She held the torch towards the cell to get a better view of Chiaki. Chiaki squinted slightly to adjust to the change in light. The female cleric then turned to Mimiru's cell and did the same. She motioned for one of the guards to come and remove them from their respective cells. The guard then led the women out of the dungeon where the female cleric led them in to a small room on the main floor of the castle.

"What do you want with us?" Chiaki asked as she looked closely at the female cleric. She squirmed anxiously in her cuffs.

"Here, put these on." She handed each Mimiru and Chiaki a small tied bundle.

"What are these?" Mimiru inquired of the cleric.

"Just head into that room over there and get changed. It is a direct order from the overlord. If you do not comply, I must before forced to call security." The cleric said flatly.

Fearing what would happen if they did not follow the orders given to them; they headed into the room and began to change their clothes. At about the same time, Miroku had finished changing into his choice of armor. He chose to wear Steel Armor beneath a Leather Jacket that he chose and wore an Amulet around his neck. He chose the cross trainers as his choice of footwear and placed a Quasi-Power Belt around his waste. For his choice of weapon, he chose a pair of Hyper Gauntlets as his weapons. He did look like a force to be reckoned with when fully clad in armor. He turned to Ricotta and addressed him.

"I'm ready to go." Miroku said strongly.

"Well then, let us head out to the arena. We shan't keep the overlord waiting." Ricotta replied as he turned towards the arena.

Miroku followed in silence as he was led out into the arena. Demons gasped and sized him up as he walked by. Some of the more easily swayed female demons fell prey to Miroku's looks and became somewhat weak in the knees. He couldn't help but smile at that reaction but tried to keep a straight face as he was escorted to a room which looked almost like a court room.

"Since the arena is currently under construction, the Dark Assembly Hall will double as the arena for the time being." Ricotta explained before the doors to the room. He turned and pushed the doors open.

Miroku was awe-struck at all the demons that lined the seats to view Miroku's trial. He walked with a stern face to mask his feeling of nervousness. He looked to the direct center of the two aisles of seats and saw Laharl sitting in what Miroku believed to be an overly-ornate chair.

"So, are you ready to receive your judgment?" Laharl spoke loudly and clear so that everyone in the assembly hall could hear him.

"I am prepared to receive my challenge." Miroku spoke formally. He figured somehow that would sway the crowd to his side slightly.

Laharl snapped his fingers and Dratti appeared from behind one of the doors in the assembly hall.

"Dratti will be your opponent for your trial. Against my better judgment, I wish you good luck."

The demons roared from the seats as Dratti made his entrance to the center of the room.

"Get 'em, Dratti!" Shouted one of the Manticores.

"Tear him to pieces!" Shouted a Jack-O-Lantern.

"Crush the cocky bastard to dust!" Shouted another Fafnir.

Miroku felt a bead of sweat drip down his face as he came to the realization that the entire crowd was against him.

"However…." Laharl shouted loudly to regain everyone's attention.

Miroku looked back to Laharl who had a unnerving grin on his face.

"I've decided to make the match a little more interesting." Laharl continued.

He snapped his fingers and two demons that were out of sight turned a crank to raise a pair of chained slates which held Chiaki and Mimiru. Both were scantily clad in rather revealing cloth robes. They were just barely covered by the garments which drew many wolf-whistles and lewd comments from a majority of the male demons.

"What the hell is going on here?" Miroku shouted in demand.

And that is the conclusion to my fifth chapter of my Disgaea fan fiction. I played the game recently to get most of the names for the equipment correct. I may have missed a few things or made a few discrepancies so if I do, please bring them to my attention in a review and I'll rectify it as soon as possible. I thank you for reading and ask you to comment on anything that can be enhanced or _any_ comments that you may have for me.


	7. Chapter 6

A New Overlord

Welcome to the sixth chapter of my Disgaea fan fiction. Things are really starting to pick up and I'm really glad to see that there are people who enjoy my work. It's the type of thing that makes me enjoy writing fan fiction. So of course, a big thanks goes to my readers without whom, I'd be nothing. Now then, please enjoy the sixth installment of Disgaea: A New Overlord.

Chapter 6: Gate Crasher

Miroku looked at Chiaki and Mimiru who hung helplessly from their restraints. He then turned his gaze back on Laharl and waited for a response from the seemingly pompous overlord.

"I thought maybe this match could use a little eye candy. Most of my subjects seem to agree. Just listen to them." Laharl spread his arms to indicate both stands besides him.

The male demons continued with their lewd comments and cheers and whistles. Miroku was sickened by the display. Although he could admit to the fact that even he enjoys a good piece of eye candy now and then, it disgusted him when women were treated as pieces of meat before a bunch of disrespectful, inconsiderate people, or demons in his current case.

"I don't mind having to fight, but this is just disgusting. You're sick. You've taken their freedom and now you want to take their dignity?" Miroku fired back.

"Knock off the false hero talk. You should know your place. This is my realm now. I say what's right and what isn't." Laharl answered coldly.

Miroku clenched his fist and took and step forward with vicious intent. Two demons which were positioned on each side of Miroku grabbed him and restrained him. He struggled for a few minutes before calming down.

"You're anxious to fight? Well, I'm way out of your league. You'd be lucky to handle Dratti but you could never take me. But, if you're so hungry for blood, then let's get this fight on with already. I have better things I could be doing." Laharl had indeed grown into a typical overlord. But with it, he brought his own sort of style to it. His childish ways and attitudes made him different from overlords of the past.

Laharl gestured to the demons restraining Miroku and they released him and headed for the doors. They exited and shut the doors tightly behind them. Leaving was no longer an option for Miroku, even though it hadn't been from the start. A couple of prinnies came out, carrying a table and set it down in front of Etna, who was standing to the side of Laharl. She took a seat and donned a headset that was taken from the communications room. The Dark Assembly hall had been adapted to an arena, speakers and all.

"Now then, are you ready?" Etna asked with the vigor of a sportscaster. Miroku slapped his hand to his forehead and shook his head in humiliation. He realized this had become an actual sporting event, complete with announcer.

Demons shouted in positive response. They cheered and applauded loudly at the announcement of the fight. The crowd was getting worked up for a good fight.

"We have a hot crowd tonight! Now then, to my right, hailing directly from the Overlord's Castle, everyone's resident favorite and one of Lord Laharl's strongest vassals, Dratti!" Etna shouted, pumping a fist in excitement.

The might Fafnir walked to the center of the floor, receiving a powerful uproar of applause and cheers. Demons gave Dratti a standing ovation and excited whistles and positive comments.

"And on my left, hailing from the human world….some random human guy." Etna delivered the line deadpan and took a sip of something in a mug on her desk.

Demons heckled Miroku and booed. Shouts of disapproval came from the crowd as Miroku stepped to the center of the room as well so that he was only a few feet away from his powerful opponent.

"Don't you hate the away games, Kid? The crowd's always against you." Dratti joked.

Miroku locked gazes with Dratti, stopping the mighty beast's laughter. Dratti viewed Miroku and saw the determination in his eyes. He sized him up in silence before Miroku broke the silence in response.

"Tell me about. But at least I won't go hungry in the ring." Miroku responded with a laugh as he caught a piece of food that was thrown in the ring, directed at him from the stands.

Dratti laughed in good nature, signaling his approval of Miroku. His laughter slowly died down as he eyed Miroku again.

"But seriously, Kid, you look like a strong competitor. I can see it in you. I hope you don't disappoint me." Dratti said as he clicked his claws against each other.

"Haven't had any complaints so far." Miroku replied with confidence. He couldn't help but feel kind of headstrong, having been "accepted" by such a powerful demon.

"We wanna see some bloodshed! Enough talking and start the fight!"

The shout came from a Rune Knight in the left hand side of the stands. Miroku and Dratti both turned in the direction of the call. Dratti smiled and Miroku shrugged his shoulders in indifference.

"The fans are getting restless as our two competitors' size each other up. Let's get to the action!" Etna threw in her trademark sarcasm on top of her assumed sportscaster identity.

Dratti turned his head back to Miroku and walked close. He extended a claw to Miroku as a sign of good sportsmanship, which was surprising to see in the netherworld. Too bad for Miroku that it was so short lived.

"Don't disappoint me. I'm expecting a good fight." Dratti said as he extended his claw for a handshake.

Miroku reached for his opponent's claw. Dratti snapped his tail against the floor and knocked Miroku clear off his feet before he could complete his handshake. He raised his tail high and prepared to swing it down forcefully, crushing Miroku upon contact.

"Ooh, that had to hurt! Should've known better than to trust a demon to believe in sportsmanship." Etna called as Miroku hit the floor. The crowd went wild with the sneak attack launched by the mighty dragon.

Dratti swung his tail down with break-neck velocity, expecting a clear shot at Miroku. Miroku, however, acted quickly enough to dodge the powerful blow with a rolling dodge to the right and climbed back to his feet. He drew his fists close to his face in a boxing stance and eyed Dratti cautiously.

"Not bad, Kid. Not bad at all. Most people wouldn't be able to get up fast enough. But you should've just stayed down." The Fafnir said with disrespect.

"Funny. I was going to say the exact same thing to you." Miroku shot forward and lunged upward, catching his opponent off guard and landed a powerful uppercut.

Dratti staggered for a minute before regaining balance. He spit out a small amount of blood and looked back at Miroku.

"Figures. You're not as tough as you seem." Miroku's tone denoted defiance and triumph.

"You punk! You made me bite my tongue!" Dratti roared.

Miroku was caught off guard by Dratti's below. He looked at him in amazement. He put everything he could into that uppercut and all he succeeded in doing was making him bite his own tongue. Miroku knew now that his regular strength wouldn't help him here. He would have to call on his mana power to see him through. He clenched his fists tightly and focused his energy on them. In a matter of seconds, his hands were surrounded with the glowing, Amethyst colored flames.

"Nice pyrotechnics. I haven't seen a human with your amount of mana. My tongue still hurts and that pissed me off but, congrats to you anyway. Now stand still while I burn you to a pile of ash!" Dratti launched a powerful Fire Breath attack at Miroku.

Miroku, who was not expecting the powerful assault, only shielded himself with his arms because he did not react in time to escape the blast. The demons shouted in approval. Adrenaline surged throughout the room.

"Burn! Dratti's Fire Breath attack can reduce buildings to nothing at full power. Imagine what it would do to this guy! Seems like this match is already over!" Etna swung her hands in excitement to get the crowd pumped, which was no hard task in their current state.

Dratti continued to pour on the heat, making sure that there would be nothing left of Miroku once he lowered the flame to nothing more than small embers. What he saw on the other end shocked and mortified him. The crowd was stunned as well. Silence fell over the once deafening assembly hall turned arena. Miroku appeared from behind the blaze, standing tall, his arms still crossed over his chest.

"What the hell? You're supposed to be dead!" Dratti screamed in desperation. He had never met anyone, other than Laharl and Krichevskoy, who could stand up to his powerful blast.

"You're not so tough. I said that before, didn't I?" Miroku's speech was pained. Although he was still standing, no doubt the attack took its toll on him. His mana flame protected him to a certain extent but since he wasn't very skilled at using it yet, he couldn't provide enough energy for a total cancel of Dratti's Fire Breath attack.

In a rather unexpected twist, Miroku received cheers for his forceful stand. He held his ground and earned the affections of some of the female demons lining the room as well as the respect of a faction of the males.

"This isn't any regular human that the powerful and charismatic Dratti is dealing with! He stood tall through the entire blast. Whoever this guy is, there's gotta be something special about him!" Etna was shocked but fulfilled her duties as an announcer to the event.

"OH MAN! DOOD!" The shout came from a large cluster of prinnies in the stands.

Miroku smiled in revelry of his applause and his own bravado. He didn't show it but he was in excruciating pain. He could just barely stand, let alone continue the fight. It would take a miracle to get him through the end of this match, let alone have a snowball's chance in hell at winning this fight. Chiaki, who had just come to moments before, had witnessed the display and was completely in awe as to how Miroku could live through a shot like that. But, she also knew that his mana count was that of an overlords' so it wasn't such a huge surprise when you thought about it in that context.

"Die, die, die! You worthless little creep! Burn in hell!" Dratti shouted in anxiety and desperation. He fired off another Fire Breath attack but this one was less focused and weaker than the first, probably due to his reaction to the event.

Miroku rolled to the side, grating his teeth in extreme pain, his burns coming in contact with the floor and the clothes on his back as he moved out of the way of the inferno. He tried to stand up, but to no avail. His legs had given out on him at the moment and he was helpless if Dratti figured out that Miroku was at such and extreme disadvantage.

"This is all too unreal. This can't be happening. Miroku is down there fighting…for me. Oh, and for her, too." Chiaki remembered that Mimiru was hanging there with her. A soft breeze came by as the hot air the filled the arena dispersed, fluttering Chiaki's garments and giving her a slight chill.

The wind is what triggered Chiaki's memory about the events just before. Her and Mimiru were forced to change into the skimpy outfits and were led to a dark room. The room was completely drenched in darkness, not even enough light to see Mimiru who was standing no more than a few inches away from her. She remembered the air smelling strange and then woke up here. She looked down and realized the situation she was in and tried in futility to cover her semi-exposed body.

"What are you? You can't be human. And you're certainly not like any demon I've seen." Dratti calmed himself down, seeing that his emotions were destroying his combat prowess.

"Who knows? I'm not even sure myself." Miroku said in parody and respect of a famous, gun wielding half demon.

Laharl, who had seen the display, broke out in a cold sweat, realizing that Miroku was one of only two other people who survived Dratti's inferno. Laharl refused to believe that Miroku could just as strong as, or stronger even, than the great overlord himself. He leaned forward, literally sitting on the edge of his seat, awaiting what would happen next.

"You know, you do a pretty good job of talking the talk kid. Let's see you walk the walk now." The demon spoke knowingly.

Miroku's eyes widened in fear. He knew that Dratti had realized that Miroku couldn't climb to his feet. But, if Miroku succeeded in getting up, it would catch his opponent off guard and give him the opening he needed to possibly end this match. Only two problems stood in his way. For one, even he didn't believe he could get up now. Also, if he did manage to find the strength to get up and continue fighting, how would he possibly win this match? As if the answer to his questions, Miroku had seen a vision of a warrior falling from the heavens to the earth ingrained in his mind. He stood up, completely throwing his opponent into a state of shock and took the opening to make his shot. Miroku ran forward and raised Dratti high into the sky with an uppercut, sending him and his opponent through the roof of the Overlord's Castle and into space. Once in the atmosphere, Miroku heightened his mana flame to immense proportions and punched Dratti with everything he had, sending the once formidable dragon spiraling helplessly towards the netherworld.

Dratti created a monstrous impact in the floor, creating a deep pit in the center of the assembly hall. Miroku then landed safely and silently on the edge of the pit.

"No….way. This isn't possible. The new guy just successfully pulled off a Rising Dragon technique. I think….I think this may very well be the end of this fight." Etna spoke silently and somewhat somberly into the headset she was wearing. The crowd was in silent amazement at the sheer destructive power of Miroku's attack. Laharl's jaw dropped and his "antennae" drooped by the sides of his head.

Miroku climbed into the pit, checking to see just how badly Dratti was harmed. He needed to know the range of his own strength. He needed to see if he did what he didn't believe he could do. He inched closer to the unconscious Dratti and observed him for a minute. Dratti twitched for a minute, giving Miroku a scare. He clamed himself as Dratti laid still. He walked right over to him. Dratti's eye quickly opened and then he slashed Miroku hard, tearing his coat to ribbons as well as shooting Miroku out of the pit.

"I don't lose! You can't hurt me! You're just a normal human kid! I refuse to lose to someone like you!" Dratti had lost his grasp on his clarity and his sanity.

Miroku flew high into the air and landed hard on the floor just outside the pit. Dratti clawed his way out of the pit and regained his footing. He roared loudly and shook the assembly hall rafters and the stands that the demons were situated. The covered their heads in fear and the shock elicited shouts and gasps from the bystanders. Mimiru was awakened from her semi-comatose state by the powerful force of Dratti's battle cry. She quickly assessed everything that was going on around her and then focused on the main thing. Miroku was down in the arena, and he was hurt badly. She turned to Chiaki, who gave her a reassuring look, believing that Miroku was going to pull through this.

"Son of a…." Miroku tried to lift himself from the floor but fell prey to the pain of his injuries and collapsed helplessly on the floor. He looked at Dratti through eyes which burned from the blood flowing freely from a cut on his forehead, obscuring his vision behind a scarlet veil.

The mighty dragon, albeit some rather serious injuries, remained strong and imposing. His demon side was truly present in the arena tonight. He snorted thick, black smoke from his nostrils as he breathed heavily.

"This isn't good. He doesn't look like he has much fight left in him. I don't think he'll make it out of this one. And that means, neither will we." Chiaki spoke under her breath to keep Mimiru from falling into a state of panic.

Mimiru had been recounting the moments that had past, coming to the same conclusion that Chiaki had earlier. She looked at Miroku, who was near finished, and longed to help him. She had wished there was something she could do. She felt it was what he deserved. Especially after fighting so hard for someone he had just met. She could understand why he would fight for Chiaki but she couldn't understand why Miroku would bother to fight for her as well. The whole situation left her despaired and confused.

"Only a miracle could get me out of this one. I can barely move and that beast is still at peak performance. I….need….a miracle." Miroku was slowly fading. He did what he could to hold onto his consciousness for as long as he could.

As if to answer his call for help, a loud shattering sound rang out from behind him, approximately near the doors of the assembly hall. The splints of wood flew about as the doors were practically obliterated by whatever was behind it. Could it be the help that Miroku was praying for? Or a demon much more fearsome than that of Dratti or worse? Much more terrifying was the real truth behind the door.

"Mr. Megami! Can you not do anything right? You've allowed Ms. Hyafumi to be captured and to allow yourself to fall victim to such a ruthless assault! Inconceivable!" The voice came in a powerful and yet horribly annoying familiarity to Miroku and Chiaki. Kaname Sadamoto, the follower of Chiaki and the destructive force of the High school she attended had become Miroku's, although gratefully welcomed, least favorable choice for a savior.

Chiaki's eyes widened in complete and utter despair. The one person she spent most of her spare time avoiding had followed her, albeit inexplicably, to another world.

"Why couldn't I have just been killed by demons? Or sacrificed to some god? Why must I constantly be punished everyday of my life?" Chiaki whined as tears streamed down her face in sheer disappointment.

"What the hell? Who the heck are you? And how did you get here anyway?" Laharl demanded. He could understand the other three because they followed the scout through the portal but how Kaname managed to get through was beyond his comprehension.

"The name is Kaname Sadamoto, guardian angel of the lovely Ms. Hyafumi. Now I demand that you release Ms. Hyafumi at once. Where is she?" Kaname scoped out the arena that was eye-level and below.

"Well, first of all, if you're talking about one of the girls, they're over there. And second…." Laharl got cut off by Kaname who had turned to face the direction that Laharl previously indicated.

"So she's over…." Kaname froze in place. Her eyes caught glimpse of Chiaki, whose skin was revealed more so to Kaname then ever. She blushed furiously and couldn't remove her eyes from Chiaki's body.

Chiaki noticed and writhed uncomfortably under Kaname's gaze. It was bad enough that she was being eyed up by most of the demons but she didn't need the extra attention from the one person that she was always trying to avoid. She felt like a piece of meat being held in front of a pack of wild dogs. She looked to Mimiru helplessly. Mimiru could do nothing but comfort her with and understanding and reassuring look.

"Hey! Hello! Over here!" Laharl felt ignored and shouted in a commanding voice. He managed to wrench Kaname's eyes off of Chiaki and back to meet his gaze.

"What is it now?" Kaname snapped with displeasure.

"You haven't even told me how you got here and where you get off just making demands like that! You shouldn't even be here, much less be trying to give me orders!" Laharl's antennae stood at attention as he commanded Kaname's respect and attention.

"Well, I guess I should explain how I arrived here before I reclaim Ms. Hyafumi from you."

"That'd be nice." Etna said with mock sincerity.

Kaname shot her a disapproving glance before continuing on with her explanation.

"I was on my usual security trip to ensure that Ms. Hyafumi arrived safely to her destination and back home, I briefly lost sight of her when she entered the shop of the young women beside her. Soon after, I noticed that they had left the store in pursuit of a thief that had stolen something which belonged to Ms. Hyafumi. I followed quickly and quietly behind them so as not to arouse suspicion. They chased the suspect into and enclosed alleyway and then disappeared behind what appeared to be some kind of vortex or something to that effect. I tried to catch them as they went through but it snapped shut just as I had arrived at the end of the long alleyway. Despaired but not dispirited, I continued to investigate the area until I could find some way to access the vortex into which they had just disappeared. I realized that it had left behind a sort of warped area on the floor so I investigated it and found that I could reopen the portal for a short moment just by "lifting" the warped section of the ground. It took me a while to do so as the ground was slowly returning to normal, making my job much harder. I managed to open a smaller version of the vortex and hurried through and now I stand here before you all." Kaname placed her hands on her hips and had an intelligent smile on her face.

The other demons had been so bored by her long and out winded story that they began to just ignore her completely. Some had been listening to music, while others read books or drew pictures on their programs. Kaname looked around and huffed angrily, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So you mean that you've been stalking me every single day?" Chiaki called out to Kaname.

"Not stalking, safeguarding." Kaname called back as she whirled around to face Chiaki again.

"Is there much difference?" Laharl said flatly under his breath.

Miroku, who had been lying on the floor, had slowly begun to get his second wind and managed to climb to his feet. He was extremely unsteady and looked like he was about to collapse at any second, but he managed to stand firm.

"Hey, you're back up. You're tougher to kill than I expected, Kid. I haven't had a fight like this for a long time. I'm still gonna kill you though." Dratti remarked as he spotted the tottering Miroku.

Kaname turned her head to the side to look at Miroku out of the corner of her eye. She was surprised to see that he had managed to stand up without assistance. She couldn't help but admire his spirit and determination.

"I still have a match to fight….I can't afford to lose this one." Miroku was pained in every breath and could barely get his sentence out.

"You're kidding, right? You can't be serious." Kaname turned around fully, feeling genuine concern for Miroku.

"I am. I picked up something at the shop that can do just the trick. The shopkeeper filled me in on the physics of this place." Miroku pulled a Chocolate bar out of his pocket with the Rosenqueen logo emblazoned on it. He unwrapped it hastily and wolfed it down. In a matter of seconds, he was back to peak status.

"Sonofa….I forgot to stock up on items!" Dratti shouted in despair.

"I think you should move out of the way for a few minutes Kaname. I have a match to finish up." Miroku was filled with confidence, even though his jacket was in tatters and most of his armor was either entirely incinerated or in really bad condition. He was essentially dressed in the clothes he came in with and his weapon. He pulled out a black and gold headband from his pant pocket and tied it around his head.

Kaname smiled and heeded Miroku's advice and walked over to Etna's table and leaned against it. Etna looked clearly annoyed but shrugged it off and attended to her duties.

"Looks like this match isn't over people! Our competitor is back at his prime and he looks pretty serious about fighting." Etna was again filled with the same excitement that she had when she first began broadcasting the event.

"Now then, bring it on!" Miroku shouted in vigor as he ran towards Dratti at full clip.

His hands and feet were moving at unbelievable speeds, pummeling Dratti with punishing punches and kicks. The mighty dragon groaned in agony with each shot that was landed. Miroku had a smile plastered on his face that hadn't come off since his onslaught began. Dratti had developed cuts all over his face and was even missing a few teeth. Kaname couldn't help but wonder why Miroku hadn't used the item earlier.

"Holy-Dratti is completely helpless against the vigorous blows connecting with him, this match could be over!" Etna was really pumped. For once, she found herself rooting for someone other than another vassal of Laharl.

"The physics of this world are horrible! He ate a chocolate bar and now he's wasting my strongest vassal? This can't be happening! After this is all over, I'm petitioning the Dark Assembly for more realistic physics on our items! NOW! Waste the human! All standby demons, ATTACK!" Laharl shouted furiously as floods of demons came and surrounded Miroku and the now unconscious Fafnir.

"HEY! That's not fair!" Kaname shouted as she withdrew her kendo stick and jumped into the arena. She couldn't stand to see injustice done, no matter where and to whom.

Etna snagged her by the leg, forcing Kaname to drop onto the table with a powerful impact.

"We're demons! We don't play fair!" Etna spun quickly and released Kaname into the sky, following closely after with her spear out in front of her.

Miroku took notice and acted quickly, launching a demon into Etna with a powerful kick, causing Etna to miss her mark. The once structured battle had now become a wild free-for-all. Even Laharl saw it fit to join in on the melee. He jumped into the center of the action, wielding his weapon, Bahamut's Fang. He cut through a couple of demons who had lost their heads and began attacking blindly, slowly making his way to Miroku. Kaname landed down on the floor and struck out at Etna, knocking her onto her back. Miroku realized that things were going much too fast for just him and Kaname to handle. He jumped high into the air, utilizing the power of the "legendary" cross-trainers that he picked up in the shops and landed on the platforms holding Mimiru and Kaname.

"You didn't think I was going to just leave you here, did you?" Miroku said with a snicker as he snapped both of their chains using his Hyper Knuckles.

"Took you long enough, though." Chiaki remarked, giving Miroku a heartfelt hug as a show of thanks.

Mimiru turned to the battlefield and looked down in amazement.

"You think we should be getting down there?" She asked cautiously.

"Dressed the way we are? We need some clothes first. We'd sooner get raped than have a chance at fighting those demons. Miroku, do you think you could hold your own for just a few minutes? I know where our stuff is, I just need the time to go and get it." Chiaki asked earnestly.

"Go on, get outta here. Me and Kaname can hold the field for a while. Just be ready to fight when you get back." Miroku said as he waved them off and then jumped once more into the fray.

Miroku landed dead center of the action. He scattered a few demons with a rotating roundhouse and regained his balance in time to see Kaname send some lesser demons reeling with a couple of expertly placed shots. Miroku turned his back, confident that Kaname could handle herself and locked glances with Laharl. The mood between them was a cold, serious energy. The two stared each other down before Laharl took the first move. He cut through a couple of demons who had gotten out of hand in the riot and made his way to Miroku. Miroku, fearing for the safety of Kaname, made his way through some of the demons that were blocking his way and moved towards the rear of the arena. Meanwhile, Chiaki and Mimiru charged through the small hallway, knocking some demons out of their way in the process of heading to the room where their belongings were being held. What they weren't expecting was to be blocked by a blonde and a robot, both looking as if they were ready to defend the hall.

"You shouldn't be out here. You're supposed to be captives of Harlie. You'd best go back or I have to force you to go back. Sorry." Jennifer apologized sincerely as she waited for their reaction.

"I need to get my stuff back. My friend is in trouble and I'm not going to let you stop me. So if you really don't want to fight me, then move." Chiaki prayed that her bluff wouldn't be called. She didn't know what Jennifer and Thursday were capable of. She hadn't learned how to channel her mana like Miroku had.

"It's extremely illogical to try and force your way through an enemy checkpoint. Offer no resistance and we will be lenient." Thursday said in his cold, monotonous voice.

Chiaki swallowed hard. Thursday made a good point that Chiaki couldn't refute. Then, out of response to fear, Chiaki was soon engulfed in a huge amethyst colored pillar of flame. Mimiru and Jennifer shielded their eyes form the flames bright rays.

"Holy-" Mimiru stopped as the flames died down and gave way to an even more extraordinary turn of events.

Chiaki had emerged from the flames, looking like a true demoness. She looked more fierce and combat ready than before. Her body came to that of a near-perfect hourglass figure and her chest had, although inexplicably, noticeably grown. She smiled malevolently as she eyed Jennifer and Thursday.

"Oh my." Jennifer said quietly.

"Subject has experienced severe changes in mana level, confidence, and body proportions. Current proportions are…" Thursday didn't receive the chance to finish as Chiaki sent a bolt of mana into the calculating robot. He lurched violently and fell back for a moment before regaining balance and rolled back to his place beside Jennifer.

"Chiaki? What's going on?" Mimiru questioned with concern.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure myself. But I guess I can't complain. I mean, just look at me! I'm hot! And my voice is….sexy!" Chiaki's voice had indeed taken on a sultry quality.

"That's not what I meant! I meant, how did you feel? What just happened?" Mimiru said, laughing at Chiaki's previous remarks. Chiaki had managed to lighten Mimiru's mood by exclaiming how she had changed.

"Again, I'm not sure. I mean, one minute I was scared and now I feel really confident. And I feel pretty strong. I guess this is the way that I harness my mana. I wonder if Miroku can do it too." Chiaki explained.

Jennifer had taken on a scowl and was considerably ticked off.

"You could have hurt Thursday! I just finished fixing him!" Jennifer shouted, which was incredibly rare for her since she almost never got mad. But, apparently, Thursday must have meant a lot to her, being that she first created him when she was younger.

Chiaki shrugged her shoulders in indifference, further angering Jennifer to the point of actually resulting to physical violence. She took a few steps forward; fists clenched tightly and hit Chiaki with a hard left hook. Chiaki stumbled backwards but remained standing. Taking Jennifer's actions as a sign of combat, didn't take long to counter with a well placed shot of her own. She lifted her right leg high and then pulled it down quickly, hooking the back of Jennifer's neck with the arch of her foot. Jennifer fell to the ground hard and took a few seconds before climbing back to her feet. Mimiru, having no way to defend herself as of now, stepped to the side to allow Chiaki and Jennifer to continue their battle unhindered. Meanwhile, Miroku had his hands full with Laharl, who had managed to catch up with him after Miroku's game of keep-away.

"Will you stand still!" Laharl shouted as he took a few empty horizontal slashes at Miroku.

"Alright, have it your way." Miroku planted his feet firmly on the ground, not out of choice but the fact that his back was literally against the wall.

Laharl smiled impatiently as he came down with a vertical slash from Bahamut's Fang.

"Strike stopper 13!" Miroku shouted as he clamped his hands on the sides of Laharl's blade. He turned his arms to the side and wrenched the sword from Laharl's hands and tossed it into the chaos in the center of the arena.

"Like I need a sword to handle you!" Laharl shouted as he threw a powerful straight punch.

Miroku reacted in time to just barely dodge the shot. Seeing a clear cut opening, he countered with a strong uppercut. Laharl's head snapped backwards from the force of the shot. He stumbled across the floor and managed to regain his balance. He steadied himself and clenched his teeth in fury as he ran at Miroku, throwing lighting fast shots. Soon, the fight turned into a high-speed game of Bloody Knuckles. Miroku matched Laharl's punches, blow for blow, the sound of their bones crashing into each other being loud enough to be audible to regular hearing. Miroku pulled back, his knuckles dripping with blood. Laharl took a quick breather, his knuckles bleeding as well. To Kaname's error, she turned her head to Miroku, leaving her open to a back attack from Etna, sending her flailing across the room. Kaname landed against a nearby wall and Etna wasn't far behind. She jumped twice in place, and out of seemingly nowhere, millions of Prinnies came falling from the skies, exploding upon impact with Kaname. After the dust settled, Kaname's body lay battered but still living.

"Damn it! That Prinny Raid was a direct hit and you're still alive? I'll do it myself!" Etna shouted.

She took to the sky and began to spin in midair, gaining velocity with each full rotation. She crashed down, raising chunks of ground and leaving behind an earth shattering crash. She could swear she nailed Kaname down this time. What Etna saw next infuriated her to such a high degree. Miroku was standing there, holding Kaname in one arm and blocking Laharl's enraged shots with the other. Miroku shattered Laharl's onslaught by filling his body with mana, causing him to combust for a few seconds, surprising Laharl and Etna alike. He then jumped up to a high seat in the assembly room and placed Kaname down gently. He then stood straight and motioned a "come at me" signal to Laharl with his hands. Laharl, never being one to turn down a challenge followed him up. He landed dead on target, crashing down on Miroku with his boots. Miroku gasped for air as Laharl placed on boot on Miroku's throat. He smiled triumphantly at the sound of Miroku's hoarse gasps. That was until Miroku grabbed Laharl's boot and twisted, sending Laharl into an uncontrolled aerial spiral. Taking a quick and deep breath, Miroku followed him into the air, landing powerful punches and kicks as they made their descent to the floor.

"No way! This can't go on! I have to get rid of all this unnecessary confusion!" Etna shouted. She then leapt into the air once again, this time making way more complete rotations that when she was aimed at Kaname. She crashed into the ground a second time but to monstrous effect. All the demons that had been brawling before had dropped down, dead. The power of Etna's Comet Strike was enough to waste the large group of demons.

"Oh my friggin' god!" Miroku shouted, realizing that Etna killed all those demons on her own.

Etna now decided to take the role of a real vassal, and rushed to her overlord's aid. She began swing her spear in close, well-timed shots, leaving Miroku in a defensive state. He could do naught but jump back, trying to keep his vow of not hitting a female. He then decided to go for a huge gamble on luck. He decided to try a move he had only successfully done once.

"Strike stopper 26!" Miroku shouted, putting his hands perpendicular to the spear. He grabbed the pole arm end of it and turned his arms in a semicircle. He cut himself slightly on his hands and his waist as he pulled the spear from Etna and snapped it in one move. Now he made her a little less dangerous. He cursed his luck and why Chiaki was not there to back him up yet. He knew he couldn't hit a female, but Chiaki sure could.

Chiaki of course, had problems of her own right now. Jennifer was no slouch on the battlefield so things weren't as easy as Chiaki expected, even with her new transformation, which she had just recently dubbed "Lovely Drive." Mimiru wasn't in favor of the name as it sounded like something out of a cheesy anime but decided not to say anything.

"Excuse me, but I feel that my intervention would somehow help this situation" Thursday said as he stopped Jennifer and Chiaki from continuing their fight.

"What is it now, Thursday? I'm pretty busy as you can see." Jennifer said, keeping her ever-present sweet tone of voice.

"Well, it has been said that music is the universal language and can soothe the savage beast, so I have a proposal to make." Thursday droned on.

"Do tell, sounds interesting anyway." Chiaki said as she lifted her eyebrow in interest.

"I propose a dance-off showdown. It could solve things without violence." Thursday explained.

"You can be serious about that, right?" Mimiru said with a nervous laugh.

"Would you like me to list the 28 clear reasons why my proposal would be deemed logical?" Thursday questioned.

"No, that's quite alright." Mimiru said, withdrawing her argument. She didn't feel there was time for a dance-off, much less a lecture from a robot.

"Well, I'll do it if she will." Chiaki said, indicating Jennifer with her eyes.

"I don't see a problem with your proposal, Thursday. And out of respect for….this young lady, I'll let her choose the song." Jennifer said, somewhat cattily but suppressed enough so that it wasn't noticeable.

"My name is, Chiaki. And I have just the thing, but it's in my bag. Which is what I was trying to get in the first place before you stopped me." Chiaki replied.

"Oh, you mean this?" Jennifer asked as she pulled Chiaki's bag out of Thursday's storage compartment.

"Yes, that's it. But if you would just give me my bag now, we could just bypass all of this." Chiaki said, becoming a little annoyed.

"You are prisoners of Lord Harlie. I cannot allow you to just leave unless I am defeated. And besides, what are you afraid of? You don't have any rhythm?" Jennifer said, trying to get under Chiaki's skin. It obviously worked.

"I have rhythm enough to help whatever sorry moves you have! Left pocket, third zipper. My CD player is in there. Take the CD out of it and set it to track 4." Chiaki said, angry and confident mixing to create and odd aura of confidence around her.

Jennifer smiled, knowing that her ploy had worked. She opened the left pocket and undid the third zipper just as Chiaki had instructed. Sure enough, Chiaki's CD player was in there and there was a CD in it but it was unlabeled since it was a burned CD. Jennifer shrugged it off and placed the CD inside Thursday's newly added media drive. After loading for a few seconds, "Don't Start Now" by BoA had begun to play.

"You have to be joking…." Mimiru said as she buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.

Jennifer let the song run for a few seconds, allowing her to get a feel for the music. She stopped the song and turned to face Chiaki. She smiled confidently, fully displaying her pearly whites before she spoke.

"I think I have a feel for the music. We can begin anytime you're ready. And I have to say, you don't have too bad a taste in music." Jennifer remarked, hiding the fact that she really liked the song.

"Thanks for the compliment, I guess. You're pretty good spirited for someone who's about to fall prey to my choreographically charged skills." Chiaki said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Right. I'll be sure to keep that in mind when I'm declared the winner."

Jennifer and Chiaki stared each other down, looking intense but still maintaining an air of elegance. What they had not realized was that a prinny had been watching the whole thing unfold and ran to report it to Laharl and Etna. The prinny ran down the hall and opened the door to the arena. A quick gust of air, tainted with the smell of blood, hit him, causing him to lose balance for a minute. He shook it off and continued into the tense room, where Miroku, Laharl and Etna stood, all deadlocked.

"Lord Laharl! Dood! Big news!" The prinny sputtered.

Laharl cocked his head to the side and looked at the prinny, still incredibly tense from the postponed battle.

"I hope you realize this isn't the time for that. Besides, what could be so important that you have to come and tell me right now?" Laharl said in an aggravated tone.

"Dood, the girl that you took prisoner is about to go into a showdown with Jennifer!" The prinny shouted frantically.

"And why would that be important if you can see if we're in a similar situation ourselves?" Etna asked sarcastically.

"It's not just any regular showdown, dood! It's a dance-off showdown!" The prinny shouted with a smirk on his face.

"You can't actually be serious about that? I'm here getting my ass handed to me and Chiaki is off shaking hers?" Although Miroku had been Chiaki's friend for a long time, he would be lying if he said the prospect of his statement didn't interest him. Especially since he had no idea about Chiaki's surprising change.

"Prince, don't you think we could just take a quick break to go and see that? Overlord knows that it's been a while since we've had any real entertainment." Etna asked pleadingly.

"No way! We're in the middle of a fight! How can you just expect to up and leave? Besides, we have to take care of this guy!" Laharl shouted in disbelief, not being able to fathom the audacity of Etna's proposal.

"I'm sure he'd be willing to stick around for a few minutes to see the show." Etna replied.

"A few minutes are all you have, dood! They're about to start any second now!" The prinny said, waving his feathery arms urgently.

Laharl gritted his teeth in chagrin but conceded to Etna's prodding and the prinny's urgent delivery of the message.

"I can't believe that I'm going to say this…..we'll take a break until the showdown is over. Now let's hurry this up." Laharl said impatiently, dusting himself off.

"That's the spirit, Prince! There's always time for a little leisure every now and again!" Etna shouted happily. She seemed almost giddy as she followed the prinny out of the room and down the hall.

"I cannot believe this is how they run a kingdom around here." Miroku said as he put his hand to his forehead.

Laharl walked out of the room and shortly after, Miroku followed suit. He spotted Mimiru at the far end of the hall and walked up next to her. He looked around to find Chiaki, not knowing about her transformation, not being able to find her. He nudged Mimiru gently.

"What is it?" Mimiru said, replying to Miroku's nudge.

"Where's Chiaki? I heard she was supposed to be here." Miroku questioned, scratching the back of his head.

"She's right there." Mimiru replied, indicating Chiaki with her index finger.

Miroku traced a line from Mimiru's index finger to Chiaki with his eyes. He donned a confused look and turned back to Mimiru. He opened his mouth to speak to Mimiru when it finally hit him.

"You mean the hottie is Chiaki?" Miroku inquired incredulously. He knew that Chiaki could be pretty attractive when she was all dressed up but to him, this transformation was unprecedented.

"She's not _that_ attractive…" Mimiru replied, a hint of jealousy showing through in her voice.

"What happened to her? She looks….different." Miroku said. He hesitated in his words because the first word that came to his mind was "sexy" but he thought it better to not make the transformation seem like that big a deal when Mimiru was around. He had already sensed the jealousy in her tone.

"She's in her…." Mimiru sighed in dislike before finishing her statement.

"She's in her "Lovely Drive" mana transformation." Mimiru explained, finishing her statement.

"Her Lovely what?" Miroku said, partially echoing Mimiru's previous words.

"Her "Lovely Drive" transformation. She manipulated her mana in a way similar to how you did, except instead of channeling it, she used it to transform." Mimiru explained.

"Damn, if she can pull of something like this, it's no wonder that her mana count came out higher than mine did. I wonder if I can do anything like that." Miroku said. He looked at Chiaki and then at Jennifer.

The two continued to stare each other down until Thursday intervened and broke the tense silence.

"Are you two ladies ready to begin?" Thursday asked flatly.

"Start the music, Thursday." Jennifer said, not removing her gaze from Chiaki.

"You wanna start or should I?" Chiaki asked out of courtesy.

"You take lead. I want to see just how well you do first." Jennifer replied.

Thursday pressed a button on his media drive and then set the CD to track 4. After a short loading time, "Don't Start Now" by BoA began to play again. It seemed like this little showdown was about to begin. And the turnout was anything but small. Soon, the hall was filled with demons that had heard the news and came to see the showdown. In no time at all, this dance-off was about to take off.

And that brings us to the conclusion of my sixth chapter of my Disgaea fan fiction. I must extended gratitude to all of you who read and review this story. The feedback really helps me get pumped for the next chapter. My battle scenes still need a little work but bear with me as I am hoping it will get better. So, the same as always, any questions or comments, leave in a review. You all know the rest.


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